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ΣΑΜ ΠΑΟΛΟ ΝΤΙ ΣΙΒΙΤΑΤΕ (Πόλη) ΠΟΥΛΙΑ
ΡΑΒΕΝΑ (Πόλη) ΕΜΙΛΙΑ ΡΟΜΑΝΑ
Turismo del Comune di Ravenna
ΣΕΛΙΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
ΑΒΑΚΑΙΝΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Abacaenum (Abakainon, Diod., Steph. Byz.: AbakaiWa, Ptol.: Eth. Abakaininos:
nr. Tripi,Ru.), a city of Sicily, situated about 4 miles from the N. coast, between
Tyndaris and Mylae, and 8 from the former city. It was a city of the Siculi, and
does not appear to have ever received a Greek colony, though it partook largely
of the influence of Greek art and civilisation. Its territory originally included
that of Tyndaris, which was separated from it by the elder Dionysius when he founded
that city in B.C. 396 (Diod. xiv. 78). From the way in which it is mentioned in
the wars of Dionysius, Agathocles, and Hieron (Diod. xiv. 90, xix. 65, 110, xxii.
Exc. Hoeschel. p. 499), it is clear that it was a place of power and importance:
but from the time of Hieron it disappears from history, and no mention is found
of it in the Verrine orations of Cicero. Its name is, however, found in Ptolemy
(iii. 4. § 12), so that it appears to have still continued to exist in his day.
Its decline was probably owing to the increasing prosperity of the neighbouring
city of Tyndaris.
There can be little doubt that the ruins visible in the time of Fazello,
at the foot of the hill on which the modern town of Tripi is situated, were those
of Abacaenum. He speaks of fragments of masonry, prostrate columns, and the vestiges
of walls, indicating the site of a large city, but which had been destroyed to
its foundations. The locality does not seem to have been examined by any more
recent traveller. (Fazellus, de Reb. Sic. ix. 7; Cluver. Sicil. Ant. p. 386.)
There are found coins of Abacaenum, both in silver and copper. The
boar and acorn, which are the common type of the former, evidently refer to the
great forests of oak which still cover the neigh. bouring mountains, and afford
pasture to large herds of swine.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΒΕΛΛΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
Abella (Abella, Strab., Ptol.: Eth. Abellanus, Insert. ap. Orell.
3316, Avellanus, Plin.: Avella Vecchia), a city in the interior of Campania, about
5 miles NE. of Nola. According to Justin (xx. 1), it was a Greek city of Chalcidic
origin, which would lead us to suppose that it was a colony of Cumae: but at a
later period it had certainly become an Oscan town, as well as the neighboring
city of Nola. No mention of it is found in history, though it must have been at
one time a place of importance. Strabo and Pliny both notice it among the inland
towns of Campania; and though we learn from the Liber de Coloniis, that Vespasian
settled a number of his freedmen and dependants there, yet it appears, both from
that treatise and from Pliny, that it had not then attained the rank of a colony,
a dignity which we find it enjoying in the time of Trajan. It probably became
such in the reign of that emperor. (Strab. p. 249; Plin. iii. 5.9; Ptol. iii.
1.68; Lib. Colon. p. 230; Gruter. Inscr. p. 1096, 1; Zumpt, de Coloniis, p.
400.) We learn from Virgil and Silius Italicus that its territory was not fertile
in corn, but rich in fruit-trees (maliferae Abellae): the neighbourhood also abounded
in filberts or hazelnuts of a very choice quality, which were called from thence
nuces Avellanae (Virg. Aen. vii. 740; Sil. Ital. viii. 545; Plin. xv. 22; Serv.
ad Georg. ii. 65). The modern town of Avella is situated in the plain near the
foot of the Apennines; but the remains of the ancient city, still called Avella
Vecchia, occupy a hill of considerable height, forming one of the underfalls of
the mountains, and command an extensive view of the plain beneath; hence Virgil's
expression despectant moenia Abellae. The ruins are described as extensive, including
the vestiges of an amphitheatre, a temple, and other edifices, as well as a portion
of the ancient walls. (Pratilli, Via Appia, p. 445; Lupuli, Iter Venusin. p. 19;
Romanelli, vol. iii. p. 597; Swinburne, Travels, vol. i. p. 105.) Of the numerous
relics of antiquity discovered here, the most interesting is a long inscription
in the Oscan language, which records a treaty of alliance between the citizens
of Abella and those of Nola. It dates (according to Mommsen) from a period shortly
after the Second Punic War, and is not only curious on account of details concerning
the municipal magistrates, but is one of the most important auxiliaries we possess
for a study of the Oscan language. This curious monument still remains in the
museum of the Seminary at Nola: it has been repeatedly published, among others
by Passeri (Linguae Oscae Specimen Singulare, fol. Romae, 1774), but in the most
complete and satisfactory manner by Lepsius (Inscr. Umbr. et Osc. tab. xxi.) and
Mommsen (Die Unter-Italischen Dialekte, p. 119).
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΒΕΛΛΙΝΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
ΑΓΑΘΥΡΝΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Agathyrna or Agathyrnum (Agathurna, Polyb. ap. Steph. Byz. Agathurnon,
Ptol.: Agathyrna, Sil. Ital. xiv.259; Liv.; Agathyrnum, Plin.), a city on the
N. coast of Sicily between Tyndaris and Calacte. It was supposed to have derived
its name from Agathyrnus, a son of Aeolus, who is said to have settled in this
part of Sicily (Diod. v. 8). But though it may be inferred from hence that it
was an ancient city, and probably of Sicelian origin, we find no mention of it
in history until after Sicily became a Roman province. During the Second Punic
War it became the head-quarters of a band of robbers and freebooters, who extended
their ravages over the neighbouring country, but were reduced by the consul Laevinus
in B.C. 210, who transported 4000 of them to Rhegium. (Liv. xxvi. 40, xxvii. 12.)
It very probably was deprived on this occasion of the municipal rights conceded
to most of the Sicilian towns, which may account for our finding no notice of
it in Cicero, though it is mentioned by Strabo among the few cities still subsisting
on the N. coast of Sicily, as well as afterwards by Pliny, Ptolemy and the Itineraries.
(Strab. vi. p. 266; Plin. iii. 8; Ptol. iii. 4. § 2; Itin. Ant. p. 92; Tab. Peut.)
Its situation has been much disputed, on account of the great discrepancy between
the authorities just cited. Strabo places it 30 Roman miles from Tyndaris, and
the same distance from Alaesa. The Itinerary gives 28 M. P. from Tyndaris and
20 from Calacte: while the Tabula (of which the numbers seem to be more trustworthy
for this part of Sicily than those of the Itinerary) gives 29 from Tyndaris, and
only 12 from Calacte. If this last measurement be supposed correct it would exactly
coincide with the distance from Caronia (Calacte) to a place near the seacoast
called Acque Dolci below S. Filadelfo (called on recent maps S. Fratello) and
about 2 miles W. of Sta Agata, where Fazello describes ruins of considerable magnitude
as extant in his day: but which he, in common with Cluverius, regarded as the
remains of Aluntium. The latter city may, however, be placed with much more probability
at S. Marco: and the ruins near S. Fratello would thus be those of Agathyrna,
there being no other city of any magnitude that we know of in this part of Sicily.
Two objections, however, remain: 1. that the distance from this site to Tyndaris
is greater than that given by any of the authorities, being certainly not less
than 36 miles: 2. that both Pliny and Ptolemy, from the order of their enumeration,
appear to place Agathyrna between Aluntium and Tyndaris, and therefore if the
former city be correctly fixed at S. Marco, Agathyrna must be looked for to the
E. of that town. Fazello accordingly placed it near Capo Orlando, but admits that
there were scarcely any vestiges visible there. The question is one hardly susceptible
of a satisfactory conclusion, as it is impossible on any view to reconcile the
data of all our authorities, but the arguments in favour of the Acque Dolci seem
on the whole to predominate. Unfortunately the ruins there have not been examined
by any recent traveller, and have very probably disappeared. Captain Smyth, however,
speaks of the remains of a fine Roman bridge as visible in the Fiumara di Rosa
Marina between this place and S. Marco. (Fazell. ix. 4, p. 384, 5. p. 391; Cluver.
Sicil. p. 295; Smyth's Sicily, p. 97.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΓΥΡΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Agyrium (Agurion: Eth. Agurinaios Agyrinensis), a city of the interior
of Sicily now called S. Filippo d'Argiro. It was situated on the summit of a steep
and lofty hill, between Enna and Centuripa, and was distant 18 Roman miles from
the former, and 12 from the latter. (Tab. Peut. The Itin. Ant. p. 93, erroneously
gives only 3 for the former distance.) It was regarded as one of the most ancient
cities of Sicily, and according to the mythical traditions of the inhabitants
was visited by Heracles on his wanderings, who was received by the inhabitants
with divine honours, and instituted various sacred rites, which continued to be
observed in the days of Diodorus. (Diod. iv. 24.) Historically speaking, it appears
to have been a Sicelian city, and did not receive a Greek colony. It is first
mentioned in B.C. 404, when it was under the government of a prince of the name
of Agyris, who was on terms of friendship and alliance with Dionysius of Syracuse,
and assisted him on various occasions. Agyris extended his dominion over many
of the neighbouring towns and fortresses of the interior, so as to become the
most powerful prince in Sicily after Dionysius himself, and the city of Agyrium
is said to have been at this time so wealthy and populous as to contain not less
than 20,000 citizens. (Diod. xiv. 9, 78, 95.) During the invasion of the Carthaginians
under Mago in B.C. 392, Agyris continued steadfast to the alliance of Dionysius,
and contributed essential service against the Carthaginian general. (Id. xiv.
95, 96.) From this time we hear no more of Agyris or his city during the reign
of Dionysius, but in B.C. 339 we find Agyrium under the yoke of a despot named
Apolloniades, who was compelled by Timoleon to abdicate his power. The inhabitants
were now declared Syracusan citizens: 10,000 new colonists received allotments
in its extensive and fertile territory, and the city itself was adorned with a
magnificent theatre and other public buildings. (Diod. xvi. 82, 83.)
At a later period it became subject to Phintias, king of Agrigentum:
but was one of the first cities to throw off his yoke, and a few years afterwards
we find the Agyrinaeans on friendly terms with Hieron king of Syracuse, for which
they were rewarded by the gift of half the territory that had belonged to Ameselum.
(Diod. xxii. Exc. Hoesch. pp. 495, 499.) Under the Roman government they continued
to be a flourishing and wealthy community, and Cicero speaks of Agyrium as one
of the most considerable cities of Sicily. Its wealth was chiefly derived from
the fertility of its territory in corn: which previous to the arrival of Verres
found employment for 250 farmers (aratores), a number diminished by the exactions
of his praetorship to no more than 80. (Cic. Verr. iii. 1. 8, 27--31, 51, 52.)
From this period we have little further notice of it, in ancient times. It is
classed by Pliny among the populi stipendiarii of Sicily, and the name is found
both in Ptolemy and the Itineraries. In the middle ages it became celebrated for
a church of St. Philip with a miraculous altar, from whence the modern name of
the town is derived. It became in consequence a great resort of pilgrims from
all parts of the island, and is still a considerable place, with the title of
a city and above 6000 inhabitants. (Plin. iii. 8. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 13; Fazell.
de Reb. Sicul. vol. i. p. 435; Ortolani, Diz. Geogr. della Sicilia, p. 111.)
The historian Diodorus Siculus was a native of Agyrium, and has preserved
to us several particulars concerning his native town. Numerous memorials were
preserved there of the pretended visit of Heracles: the impression of the feet
of his oxen was still shown in the rock, and a lake or pool four stadia in circumference
was believed to have been excavated by him. A Temenos or sacred grove in the neighbourhood
of the city was consecrated to Geryones, and another to Iolaus, which was an object
of peculiar veneration: and annual games and sacrifices were celebrated in honour
both of that hero and of Heracles himself. (Diod. i. 4, iv. 24.) At a later period
Timoleon was the chief benefactor of the city, where he constructed several temples,
a Bouleuterion and Agora, as well as a theatre which Diodorus tells us was the
finest in all Sicily, after that of Syracuse, (Id. xvi. 83.) Scarcely any remains
of these buildings are now visible, the only vestiges of antiquity being a few
undefined fragments of masonry. The ruined castle on the summit of the hill, attributed
by some writers to the Greeks, is a work of the Saracens in the tenth century.
(Amico, ad Fazell. p. 440; Lex. Topogr. Sic. vol. i. p. 22.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΔΡΑΝΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Adranum or Hadranum (Adranon, Diod. Steph. B. Haitranum, Sil. Ital.:
Eth. Adranites, Hadranitanus: Aderno), a city of the interior of Sicily, situated
at the foot of the western slope of Mt. Aetna above the valley of the Simeto,
and about 7 miles from Centuripi. We learn from Diodorus (xiv. 37) that there
existed here from very ancient times a temple of a local deity named Adranus,
whose worship was extensively spread through Sicily, and appears to have been
connected with that of the Palici. (Hesych. s. v. Palikoi.) But there was no city
of the name until the year 400 B.C. when it was founded by the elder Dionysius,
with a view to extend his power and influence in the interior of the island. (Diod.
l. c.) It probably continued to be a dependency of Syracuse; but in 345 B.C. it
fell into the hands of Timoleon. (Id. xvi. 68; Plut. Timol. 12.) It was one of
the cities taken by the Romans at the commencement of the First Punic War (Diod.
xxiii. Exc. Hoesch. p. 501), and probably on this account continued afterwards
in a relation to Rome inferior to that of most other Sicilian cities. This may
perhaps account for the circumstance that its name is not once mentioned by Cicero
(see Zumpt ad Cic. Verr. iii. 6, p. 437); but we learn from Pliny that it was
in his time included in the class of the stipendiariae civitates of Sicily. (H.
N. iii. 8.)
Both Diodorus and Plutarch speak of it as a small town owing its importance
chiefly to the sanctity of its temple; but existing remains prove that it must
have been at one time a place of some consideration. These consist of portions
of the ancient walls and towers, built in a massive style of large squared blocks
of lava; of massive substructions, supposed to have been those of the temple of
Adranus; and the ruins of a large building which appears to have belonged to Roman
Thermae. Numerous sepulchres also have been discovered and excavated in the immediate
neighbourhood. The modem town of Aderno retains the ancient site as well as name:
it is a considerable place, with above 6000 inhabitants. (Biscari, Viaggio in
Sicilia, pp. 57-60; Ortolani, Diz. Geogr. della Sicilia, p. 13; Bull. dell. Inst.
Arch. 1843, p. 129.)
Stephanus Byzantinus speaks of the city as situated on a river of
the same name: this was evidently no other than the northern branch of the Simeto
(Symaethus) which is still often called the Finme d'Aderno.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΔΡΙΑΤΙΚΗ (Θάλασσα) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
Adriaticum Mare (d Adias), is the name given both by Greek and Latin
writers to the inland sea still called the Adriatic, which separates Italy from
Illyricum, Dalmatia and Epeirus, and is connected at its southern extremity with
the Ionian Sea. It appears to have been at first regarded by the Greeks as a mere
gulf or inlet of the Ionian Sea, whence the expression d Adrias (kolpos sc.),
which first came into use, became so firmly established that it always maintained
its ground among the Greek writers of the best ages, and it is only at a later
period or in exceptional cases that we find the expressions n Adriane or Adriatikn
Thalassa. (The former expression is employed by Scymnus Chius, 368; and the latter
in one instance by Strabo, iv. p. 204.) The Latins frequently termed it Mare Superum,
the Upper Sea, as opposed to the Tyrrhenian or Lower Sea (Mare Inferum); and the
phrase is copied from them by Polybius and other Greek writers. It appears probable
indeed that this was the common or vernacular expression among the Romans, and
that the name of the Adriatic was a mere geographical designation, perhaps borrowed
in the first instance from the Greeks. The use of Adria or Hadria in Latin for
the name of the sea, was certainly a mere Graecism, first introduced by the poets
(Hor. Carm. i. 3. 15, iii. 3. 5, &c.; Catull. xxxvi. 15), though it is sometimes
used by prose writers also. (Senec. Ep. 90; Mela, ii. 2, &c.)
According to Herodotus (i. 163) the Phocaeans were the first of the
Greeks who discovered the Adriatic, or at least the first to explore its recesses,
but the Phoenicians must have been well acquainted with it long before, as they
had traded with the Venetians for amber from a very early period. It has, indeed,
been contended, that ho Adries in Herodotus (both in this passage and in iv. 33,
v. 9) means not the sea or gulf so called, but a region or district about the
head of it. But in this case it seems highly improbable that precisely the same
expression should have come into general use, as we certainly find it not long
after the time of Herodotus, for the sea itself. Hecataeus also (if we can trust
to the accuracy of Stephanus B. s. v. Adrias) appears to have used the full expression
kolpos Adrias.
The natural limits of the Adriatic are very clearly marked by the
contraction of the opposite shores at its entrance, so as to form a kind of strait,
not exceeding 40 G. miles in breadth, between the Acroceraunian promontory in
Epirus, and the coast of Calabria near Hydruntum, in Italy. This is accordingly
correctly assumed both by Strabo and Pliny as the southern limits of the Adriatic,
as it was at an earlier period by Scylax and Polybius, the latter of whom expressly
tells us that Oricus was the first city on the right hand after entering the Adriatic.
(Strab. vii. p. 317; Plin. iii. 11. s. 16; Scylax, § 14, p. 5, § 27, p. 11; Pol.
vii. 19; Mela, ii. 4.) But it appears to have been some time before the appellation
was received in this definite sense, and the use of the name both of the Adriatic
and of the Ionian Gulf was for some time very vague and fluctuating. It is probable,
that in the earliest times the name of o Adrias was confined to the part of the
sea in the immediate neighbourhood of Adria itself and the mouths of the Padus,
or at least to the upper part near the head of the gulph, as in the passages of
Herodotus and Hecataeus above cited; but it seems that Hecataeus himself in another
passage (ap. Steph. B. s. v. Istroi) described the Istrians as dwelling on the
Ionian gulf, and Hellanicus (ap. Dion. Hal. i. 28) spoke of the Padus as flowing
into the Ionian gulf. In like manner Thucydides (i. 24) describes Epidamnus as
a city on the right hand as you enter the Ionian gulf. At this period, therefore,
the latter expression seems to have been at least the more common one, as applied
to the whole sea. But very soon after we find the orators Lysias and Isocrates
employing the term d Adrias in its more extended sense: and Scylax (who must have
been nearly contemporary with the latter) expressly tells us that the Adriatic
and Ionian gulfs were one and the same. (Lys. Or. c. Diog. § 38, p. 908; Isocr.
Philipp. § 7; Scylax, § 27, p. 11.) From this time no change appears to have taken
place in the use of the name, d Adrias being familiarly used by Greek writers
for the modern Adriatic (Theophr. iv. 5. § § 2, 6; Pseud. Aristot. de Mirab. §
§ >80, 82; Scymn. Ch. 132, 193, &c.; Pol. ii. 17, iii. 86, 87, &c.) until after
the Christian era. But subsequently to that date a very singular change was introduced:
for while the name of the Adriatic Gulf (d Hadrias, or Adriatikos kolpos) became
restricted to the upper portion of the inland sea now known by the same name,
and the lower portion nearer the strait or entrance was commonly known as the
Ionian Gulf, the sea without that entrance, previously known as the Ionian or
Sicilian, came to be called the Adriatic Sea. The beginning of this alteration
may already be found in Strabo, who speaks of the Ionian Gulf as a part of the
Adriatic: but it is found fully developed in Ptolemy, who makes the promontory
of Garganus the limit between the Adriatic Gulf (ho Adrias kolpos) and the Ionian
Sea (to Ionion pelagos), while he calls the sea which bathes the eastern shores
of Bruttium and Sicily, the Adriatic Sea (to Adriatikon pelagos): and although
the later geographers, Dionysius Periegetes and Agathemerus, apply the name of
the Adriatic within the same limits as Strabo, the common usage of historians
and other writers under the Roman Empire is in conformity with that of Ptolemy.
Thus we find them almost uniformly speaking of the Ionian Gulf for the lower part
of the modern Adriatic: while the name of the latter had so completely superseded
the original appellation of the Ionian Sea for that which bathes the western shores
of Greece, that Philostratus speaks of the isthmus of Corinth as separating the
Aegaean Sea from the Adriatic. And at a still later period we find Procopius and
Orosius still further extending the appellation as far as Crete on the one side,
and Malta on the other. (Ptol. iii. 1. § § 1, 10, 14, 17, 26, 4. § § 1, 8; Dionys.
Per. 92--94, 380, 481; Agathemer. i. 3, ii. 14; Appian, Syr. 63, B.C. ii. 39,
iii. 9, v. 65; Dion Cass. xli. 44, xiv. 3; Herodian. viii. 1; Philostr. Imagg.
ii. 16; Pausan. v. 25. § 3, viii. 54. § 3; Hieronym. Ep. 86; Procop. B. G. i.
15, iii. 40, iv. 6, B. V.. i. 13, 14, 23; Oros. i. 2.) Concerning the various
fluctuations and changes in the application and signification of the name, see
Larcher's Notes on Herodotus (vol. i. p. 157, Eng. transl.), and Letronne (Recherches
sur Dicuil. p. 170--218), who has, however, carried to an extreme extent the distinctions
he attempts to establish. The general form of the Adriatic Sea was well known
to the ancients, at least in the time of Strabo, who correctly describes it as
long and narrow, extending towards the NW., and corresponding in its general dimensions
with the part of Italy to which it is parallel, from the Iapygian promontory to
the mouths of the Padus. He also gives its greatest breadth pretty correctly at
about 1200 stadia, but much overstates its length at 6000 stadia. Agathemerus,
on the contrary, while he agrees with Strabo as to the breadth, assigns it only
3000 stadia in length, which is as much below the truth, as Strabo exceeds it.
(Strab. ii. p. 123, v. p. 211; Agathemer. 14.) The Greeks appear to have at first
regarded the neighbourhood of Adria and the mouths of the Padus as the head or
inmost recess of the gulf, but Strabo and Ptolemy more justly place its extremity
at the gulf near Aquileia and the mouth of the Tilavemptus (Tagliamento). (Strab.
ii. p. 123, iv. p. 206; Ptol. iii. 1. § § 1, 26.)
The navigation of the Adriatic was much dreaded on account of the
frequent and sudden storms to which it was subject : its evil character on this
account is repeatedly alluded to by Horace. (Carm. i. 3. 15, 33. 15, ii. 14. 14,
iii. 9. 23, &c.)
There is no doubt that the name of the Adriatic was derived from the
Etruscan city of Adria or Atria, near the mouths of the Padus. Livy, Pliny, and
Strabo, all concur in this statement, as well as in extolling the ancient power
and commercial influence of that city, and it is probably only by a confusion
between the two cities of the same name, that some later writers have derived
the appellation of the sea from Adria in Picenum, which was situated at some distance
from the coast, and is not known to have been a place of any importance in early
times.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΙΟΛΙΑ (Σύμπλεγμα νήσων) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
Aeoliae, Insulae (Aiolides nesoi, Diod. Aidlou nedoi, Thuc. Strab.),
a group of volcanic islands, lying in the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north of Sicily,
between that island and the coast of Lucania. They derived the name of Aeolian
from some fancied connection with the fabulous island of Aeolus mentioned by Homer
in the Odyssey (x. 1, &c.), but they were also frequently termed Vulcaniae or
Hephaestiae, from their volcanic character, which was ascribed to the subterranean
operations of Vulcan, as well as Liparaean (hai Aiearhaion nedoi, Strab. ii. p.
123), from Lipara the largest and most important among them, from which they still
derive the name of the Lipari Islands.
Ancient authors generally agree in reckoning them as seven in number
(Strab. vi. p. 275 ; Plin. iii. 8. 14; Scymn. Ch. 255; Diod. v. 7; Mela, ii. 7;
Dionys. Perieget. 465; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. iii. 41), which is correct, if the
smaller islets be omitted. But there is considerable diversity with regard to
their names, and the confusion has been greatly augmented by some modern geographers.
They are enumerated as follows by Strabo, Diodorus, and Pliny:
1. Lipara still called Lipari; the most considerable of the seven, and
the only one which contained a town of any importance.
2. Hiera situated between Lipara and the coast of Sicily. Its original
name according to Strabo was Thermessa (Xhermessa), or, as Pliny writes it, Therasia,
but it was commonly known to the Greeks as Hierha Hiera HePhhaidton, being considered
sacred to Vulcan on account of the volcanic phenomena which it exhibited. For
the same reason it was called by the Romans Vulcani Insula, from whence its modern
appellation of Vulcano. It is the southernmost of the whole group, and is distant
only 12 G. miles from Capo Calava, the nearest point on the coast of Sicily.
3. Strongyle (Strongnle, now Stromboli), so called from its general roundness
of form (Strab.; Lucil. Aetna, 431): the northernmost of the islands, and like
Hiera an active volcano.
4. Didyme (Didnme), now called Salina, or Isola delle Saline, is next to
Lipara the largest of the whole group. Its ancient name was derived (as Strabo
expressly tells us, vi. p. 276), from its form, which circumstance leaves no doubt
of its being the same with the modern Salina, that island being conspicuous for
two high conical mountains which rise to a height of 3,500 feet (Smyth's Sicily,
p. 272; Ferrara, Campi Flegrei della Sicilia, p. 243; Daubeny, On Volcanoes, p.
262). Groskurd (ad Strab.), Mannert, and Forbiger, have erroneously identified
Didyme with Panaria, and thus thrown the whole subject into confusion. It is distant
only three miles NW. from Lipara.
5. Phoenicusa (Phoinikondda, Strab. Phoinikhodes, Diod.), so called from
the palms (Phoinikes) in which it abounded, is evidently Felicudi about 12 miles
W. of Salina.
6. Ericusa (Erikonssa or Erlihodes), probably named from its abundance
of heath (erheike), is the little island of Alicudi, the westernmost of the whole
group. These two were both very small islands and were occupied only for pasturage.
7. Euonymus (Enhonumos), which we are expressly told was the smallest of
the seven and uninhabited. The other six being clearly identified, there can be
no doubt that this is the island now called Panaria, which is situated between
Lipara and Strongyle, though it does not accord with Strabo's description that
it lies the farthest out to sea (pelaghia mhalidta). But it agrees, better at
least than any other, with his statement that it lay on the left hand as one sailed
from Lipara towards Sicily, from whence he supposes it to have derived its name.
Several small islets adjacent to Panaria, are now called the Dattole,
the largest of which Basiluzzo, is probably the Hicesia of Ptolemy (Hikedhia,
Ptol. iii. 4. § 16; Hikhedion, Eustath. ad Hom. Odyss. x. 1), whose list, with
the exception of this addition, corresponds with that; of Strabo. That of Me]a
(ii. 7) is very confused and erroneous: he is certainly in error in including
Osteodes in the Aeolian group.
The volcanic character of these islands was early noticed by the Greeks:
and Diodorus justly remarks (v. 7) that they had all been evidently at one time
vents of eruptive action, as appeared from their still extant craters, though
in his time two only, Hiera and Strongyle, were active volcanoes. Strabo indeed
appears to speak of volcanic eruptions in the island of Lipara itself, but his
expressions, which are not very precise, may probably refer only to outbreaks
of volcanic vapours and hot springs, such as are still found there. Earlier writers,
as Thucydides and Scymnus Chins, allude to the eruptions of Hiera only, and these
were probably in ancient times the most frequent and violent, as they appear to
have attracted much more attention than those of Strongyle, which is now by far
the most active of the two. Hence arose the idea that this was the abode of Vulcan,
and the peculiar sounds that accompanied its internal agitations were attributed
to the hammers and forges of the god and his workmen the Cyclopes. (Thuc. iii.
88; Scymn. Ch. 257--261; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. iii. 41; Virg. Aen. viii. 418).
According to Strabo there were three craters on this island, the largest of which
was in a state of the most violent eruption. Polybius (ap. Strab. vi. p. 276),
who appears to have visited it himself, described the principal crater as five
stadia in circumference, but diminishing gradually to a width of only fifty feet,
and estimated its depth at a stadium. From this crater were vomited forth sometimes
flames, at others red hot stones, cinders and ashes, which were carried to a great
distance. No ancient writer mentions streams of lava (pnakes) similar to those
of Aetna. The intensity and character of these eruptions was said to vary very
much according to the direction of the wind, and from these indications, as well
as the gathering of mists and clouds around the summit, the inhabitants of the
neighbouring island of Lipara professed to foretell the winds and weather, a circumstance
which was believed to have given rise to the fable of Aeolus ruling the winds.
The modern Lipariots still maintain the same pretension. (Strab.; Smyth's Sicily,
p. 270.) At a later period Hiera seems to have abated much of its activity, and
the younger Lucilius (a contemporary of Seneca) speaks of its fires as in a great
measure cooled. (Lucil. Aetn. 437.)
We hear much less from ancient authors of the volcanic phenomena of
Strongyle than those of Hiera: but Diodorus describes them as of similar character,
while Strabo tells us that the eruptions were less violent, but produced a more
brilliant light. Pliny says nearly the same thing: and Mela speaks of both Hiera
and Strongyle as burning with perpetual fire. Lucilius on the contrary (Aetna,
434) describes the latter as merely smoking, and occasionally kindled into a blaze,
but for a short time. Diodorus tells us that the eruptions both of Hiera and Strongyle
were observed for the most part to alternate with those of Aetna, on which account
it was supposed by many that there was a subterranean communication between them.
Besides these ordinary volcanic phenomena, which appear to have been
in ancient times (as they still are in the case of Stromboli) in almost constant
operation, we find mention of several more remarkable and unusual outbursts. The
earliest of these is the one recorded by Aristotle (Meteorol. ii. 8), where he
tells us that in the island of Hiera the earth swelled up with a loud noise, and
rose into the form of a considerable hillock, which at length burst and sent forth
not only vapour, but hot cinders and ashes in such quantities that they covered
the whole city of Lipara, and some of them were carried even to the coast of Italy.
The vent from which they issued (he adds) remained still visible: and this was
probably one of the craters seen by Polybius. At a later period Posidonius described
an eruption that took place in the sea between Hiera and Euonymus, which after
producing a violent agitation of the waters, and destroying all the fish, continued
to pour forth mud, fire and smoke for several days, and ended with giving rise
to a small island of a rock like millstone (lava), on which the praetor T. Flamininus
landed and offered sacrifices. (Posidon. ap. Strab. vi. p. 277.) This event is
mentioned by Posidonius as occurring within his own memory; and from the mention
of Flamininus as praetor it is almost certain that it is the same circumstance
recorded by Pliny (ii. 87) as occurring in Ol. 163. 3, or B.C. 126. The same phenomenon
is less accurately described by Julius Obsequens and Orosius (v. 10), both of
whom confirm the above date: but the last author narrates (iv. 20) at a. much
earlier period (B.C. 186) the sudden emergence from the sea of an island, which
he erroneously supposes to have been the Vulcani Insula itself: but which was
probably no other than the rock now called Vulcanello, situated at the NE. extremity
of Vulcano, and united to that island only by a narrow isthmus formed of volcanic
sand and ashes. It still emits smoke and vapour and contains two small craters.
None of the Aeolian islands, except Lipara, appear to have been inhabited
in ancient times to any extent. Thucydides expressly tells us (iii. 88) that in
his day Lipara alone was inhabited, and the other islands, Strongyle, Didyme,
and Hiera, were cultivated by the Liparaeans; and this statement is confirmed
by Diodorus (v. 9). Strabo however speaks of Euonymus as uninhabited in a manner
that seems to imply that the larger islands were not so: and the remains of ancient.
buildings which have been found not only on Salina and Stromboli, but even on
the little rock of Basiluzzo, prove that they were resorted to by the Romans,
probably for the sake of medical baths, for which the volcanic vapours afforded
every facility. Hiera on the contrary apparently remained always uninhabited,
as it does at the present day. But the excellence of its port (Lucil. Aetn. 442)
rendered it of importance as a naval station, and we find both Hiera and Strongyle
occupied by the fleet of Augustus during the war with Sex. Pompeius in B.C. 36.
(Appian. B.C. v. 105.) All the islands suffered great disadvantage, as they still
do, from the want of water, consequent on the light and porous nature of the volcanic
soil. (Thuc. iii. 88; Smyth's Sicily, p. 249.) But though little adapted for agriculture
they possessed great resources in their stores of alum, sulphur, and pumice, which
were derived both from Hiera and Strongyle, and exported in large quantities.
The sea also abounded in fish; and produced coral of the finest quality. (Plin.
xxxii. 2. § 11, xxxv. 15. § § 50, 52, xxxvi. 21. § 42; Lucil. Aetn. 432.)
It is scarcely necessary to inquire which of the Aeolian islands has
the most claim to be considered as the residence of Aeolus himself. Homer certainly
speaks only of one island, and is followed in this respect by Virgil. But the
floating island of the elder poet, girt all around with a wall of brass, is scarcely
susceptible of any precise geographical determination. The common tradition among
the later Greeks seems to have chosen the island of Lipara itself as the dwelling
of Aeolus, and the explanation of the fable above alluded to is evidently adapted
to this assumption. But Strabo and Pliny both place the abode of the ruler of
the winds in Strongyle, and the latter transfers to that island what others related
of Hiera. Ptolemy on the contrary, by a strange confusion, mentions the island
of Aeolus (Aiholou nedos, iii. 4. § 17) as something altogether distinct from
the Aeolian islands, which he had previously enumerated separately: while Eustathius
(ad Hom. Odyss. x. 1) reckons it as one of the seven, omitting Euonymus to make
room for it, though in another passage (ad Dionys. Per. 461) he follows Strabo's
authority, and identifies it with Strongyle.
For an account of the present state of the Lipari Islands and their
volcanic phenomena the reader may consult Smyth's Sicily, chap. vii. p. 274--278;
Ferrara, Campi Flegrei della Sicilia, p. 199--252; Daubeny, On Volcanoes, ch.
14, pp. 245--263, 2nd edit. The history of the islands is almost wholly dependent
on that of Lipara, and will be found in that article.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΙΤΝΑ (Βουνό) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Aetna (Aitne: Eth. Aitnaioi, Aetnensis), a city of Sicily, situated
at the foot of the mountain of the same name, on its southern declivity. It was
originally a Sicelian city, and was called Inessa or Inessum (*+inedda, Thuc.
Strab.; +Ineddon, Steph. Byz. v. Aitne; Diodorus has the corrupt form Ennedhia):
but after the death of Hieron I. and the expulsion of the colonists whom he had
established at Catana, the latter withdrew to Inessa, a place of great natural
strength, which they occupied, and transferred to it the name of Aetna, previously
given by Hieron to his new colony at Catana. In consequence of this they continued
to regard Hieron as their oekist or founder. (Diod. xi. 76; Strab. vi. p. 268.)
The new name, however, appears not to have been universally adopted, and we find
Thucydides at a later period still employing the old appellation of Inessa. It
seems to have fallen into the power of the Syracusans, and was occupied by them
with a strong garrison; and in B.C. 426 we find the Athenians under Laches in
vain attempting to wrest it from their hands. (Thuc. iii. 103.) During the great
Athenian expedition, Inessa, as well as the neighbouring city of Hybla, continued
steadfast in the alliance of Syracuse, on which account their lands were ravaged
by the Athenians. (Id. vi. 96.) At a subsequent period the strength of its position
as a fortress, rendered it a place of importance in the civil dissensions of Sicily,
and it became the refuge of the Syracusan knights who had opposed the elevation
of Dionysius. But in B.C. 403, that despot made himself master of Aetna, where
he soon after established a body of Campanian mercenaries, who had previously
been settled at Catana. These continued faithful to Dionysius, notwithstanding
the general defection of his allies, during the Carthaginian invasion in B.C.
396, and retained possession of the city till B.C. 339, when it was taken by Timoleon,
and its Campanian occupants put to the sword. (Diod. xiii. 113, xiv. 7, 8, 9,
14, 58, 61, xvi. 67, 82.) We find no mention of it from this time till the days
of Cicero, who repeatedly speaks of it as a municipal town of considerable importance;
its territory being one of the most fertile in corn of all Sicily. Its citizens
suffered severely from the exactions of Verres and his agents. (Cic. Verr. iii.
2. 3, 44, 45, iv. 51.) The Aetnenses are also mentioned by Pliny among the populi
stipendiarii of Sicily; and the name of the city is found both in Ptolemy and
the Itineraries, but its subsequent history and the period of its destruction
are unknown.
Great doubt exists as to the site of Aetna. Strabo tells us (vi. p.
273) that it was near Centuripi, and was the place from whence travellers usually
ascended the mountain. But in another passage (ib. p. 268) he expressly says that
it was only 80 stadia from Catana. The Itin. Ant. places it at 12 M. P. from Catana,
and the same distance from Centuripi; its position between these two cities is
further confirmed by Thucydides (vi. 96). But notwithstanding these unusually
precise data, its exact situation cannot be fixed with certainty. Sicilian antiquaries
generally place it at Sta Maria di Licodia, which agrees well with the strong
position of the city, but is certainly too distant from Catana. On the other hand
S. Nicolo dell' Arena, a convent just above Nicolosi, which is regarded by Cluverius
as the site, is too high up the mountain to have ever been on the high road from
Catana to Centuripi. Manner, however, speaks of ruins at a place called Castro,
about 2 1/2 miles N. E. from Paterno, on a hill projecting from the foot of the
mountain, which he regards as the site of Aetna, and which would certainly agree
well with the requisite conditions. He does not cite his authority, and the spot
is not described by any recent traveller. (Cluver. Sicil. p. 123; Amic. Lex. Topogr.
Sic. vol. iii. p. 50; Mannert, Ital. vol. ii. p. 293.)
There exist coins of Aetna in considerable numbers, but principally
of copper; they bear the name of the people at full, Aitnaion. Those of silver,
which are very rare, are similar to some of Catana, but bear only the abbreviated
legend Aitn.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Aetna (Aitne), a celebrated volcanic mountain of Sicily, situated
in the NE. part of the island, adjoining the sea-coast between Tauromenium and
Catana. It is now called by the peasantry of Sicily Mongibello, a name compounded
of the Italian Monte, and the Arabic Jibel, a mountain; but is still well-known
by the name of Etna. It is by far the loftiest mountain in Sicily, rising to a
height of 10,874 feet above the level of the sea, while its base is not less than
90 miles in circumference. Like most volcanic mountains it forms a distinct and
isolated mass, having no real connection with the mountain groups to the N. of
it, from which it is separated by the valley of the Acesines, or Alcantara; while
its limits on the W. and S. are defined by the river Symaethus (the Simeto or
Giarretta), and on the E. by the sea. The volcanic phenomena which it presents
on a far greater scale than is seen elsewhere in Europe, early attracted the attention
of the ancients, and there is scarcely any object of physical geography of which
we find more numerous and ample notices.
It is certain from geological considerations, that the first eruptions
of Aetna must have long preceded the historical era; and if any reliance could
be placed on the fact recorded by Diodorus (v. 6), that the Sicanians were compelled
to abandon their original settlements in the E. part of the island in consequence
of the frequency and violence of these outbursts, we should have sufficient evidence
that it was in a state of active operation at the earliest period at which Sicily
was inhabited. It is difficult, however, to believe that any such tradition was
really preserved; and it is far more probable, as related by Thucydides (vi. 2),
that the Sicanians were driven to the W. portion of the island by the invasion
of the Sicelians, or Siculi: on the other hand, the silence of Homer concerning
Aetna has been frequently urged as a proof that the mountain was not then in a
state of volcanic activity, and though it would be absurd to infer from thence
(as has been done by some authors) that there had been no previous eruptions,
it may fairly be assumed that these phenomena were not very frequent or violent
in the days of the poet, otherwise some vague rumour of them must have reached
him among the other marvels of the far west. But the name at least of Aetna, and
probably its volcanic character, was known to Hesiod (Eratosth. ap. Strab. i.
p. 23), and from the time of the Greek settlements in Sicily, it attracted general
attention. Pindar describes the phenomena of the mountain in a manner equally
accurate and poetical--the streams of fire that were vomited forth from its inmost
recesses, and the rivers (of lava) that gave forth only smoke in the daytime,
but in the darkness assumed the appearance of sheets of crimson fire rolling down
into the deep sea. (Pyth. i. 40.) Aeschylus also alludes distinctly to the rivers
of fire, devouring with their fierce jaws the smooth fields of the fertile Sicily.
(Prom. V. 368.) Great eruptions, accompanied with streams of lava, were not, however,
frequent. We learn from Thucydides (iii. 116) that the one which he records in
the sixth year of the Peloponnesian war (B.C. 425) was only the third which had
taken place since the establishment of the Greeks in the island. The date of the
earliest is not mentioned; the second (which is evidently the one more particularly
referred to by Pindar and Aeschylus) took place, according to Thucydides, 50 years
before the above date, or B.C. 475; but it is placed by the Parian Chronicle in
the same year with the battle of Plataea, B.C. 479. (Marm.Par.68, ed. C. Muller.)
The next after that of B.C. 425 is the one recorded by Diodorus in B.C. 396, as
having occurred shortly before that date, which had laid waste so considerable
a part of the tract between Tauromenium and Catana, as to render it impossible
for the Carthaginian general Mago to advance with his army along the coast. (Diod.
xiv. 59; the same eruption is noticed by Orosius, ii. 18.) From this time we have
no account of any great outbreak till B.C. 140, when the mountain seems to have
suddenly assumed a condition of extraordinary activity, and we find no less than
four violent eruptions recorded within 20 years, viz. in B.C. 140, 135, 126, 121;
the last of which inflicted the most serious damage, not only on the territory
but the city of Catana. (Oros. v. 6, 10, 13; Jul. Obseq. 82, 85, 89.) Other eruptions
are also mentioned as accompanying the outbreak of the civil war between Pompey
and Caesar, B.C. 49, and immediately preceding the death of the latter, B.C. 44
(Virg. G. i. 471; Liv. ap. Serv. ad Virg. l. c.; Petron. de B.C. 135; Lucan i.545),
and these successive outbursts appear to have so completely devastated the whole
tract on the eastern side of the mountain, as to have rendered it uninhabitable
and almost impassable from want of water. (Appian, B.C. v. 114.) Again, in B.C.
38, the volcano appears to have been in at least a partial state of eruption (Id.
v. 117), and 6 years afterwards, just before the outbreak of the civil war between
Octavian and Antony, Dion Cassius records a more serious outburst, accompanied
with a stream of lava which did great damage to the adjoining country. (Dion Cass.
l. 8.) But from this time forth the volcanic agency appears to have been comparatively
quiescent; the smoke and noises which terrified the emperor Caligula (Suet. Cal.
51) were probably nothing very extraordinary, and with this exception we hear
only of two eruptions during the period of the Roman empire, one in the reign
of Vespasian, A.D. 70, and the other in that of Decius, A.D. 251, neither of which
is noticed by contemporary writers, and may therefore be presumed to have been
of no very formidable character. Orosius, writing in the beginning of the fifth
century, speaks of Aetna as having then become harmless, and only smoking enough
to give credit to the stories of its past violence. (Idat. Chron. ad ann. 70;
Vita St. Agathae, ap. Cluver. Sicil. p. 106; Oros. ii. 14.)
From these accounts it is evident that the volcanic action of Aetna
was in ancient, as it still continues in modern times, of a very irregular and
intermittent character, and that no dependence can be placed upon those passages,
whether of poets or prose writers, which apparently describe it as in constant
and active operation. But with every allowance for exaggeration, it seems probable
that the ordinary volcanic phenomena which it exhibited were more striking and
conspicuous in the age of Strabo and Pliny than at the present day. The expressions,
however, of the latter writer, that its noise was heard in the more distant parts
of Sicily, and that its ashes were carried not only to Tauromenium and Catana,
but to a distance of 150 miles, of course refer only to times of violent eruption.
Livy also records that in the year B.C. 44, the hot sand and ashes were carried
as far as Rhegium. (Plin. H. N. ii. 103. 106, iii. 8. 14; Liv. ap. Serv. ad Geory.
i. 471.) It is unnecessary to do more than allude to the well-known description
of the eruptions of Aetna in Virgil, which has been imitated both by Silius Italicus
and Claudian. (Virg. Aen. iii. 570--577; Sil. Ital. xiv. 58--69; Claudian de Rapt.
Proserp. i. 161.)
The general appearance of the mountain is well described by Strabo,
who tells us that the upper parts were bare and covered with ashes, but with snow
in the winter, while the lower slopes were clothed with forests, and with planted
grounds, the volcanic ashes, which were at first so destructive, ultimately producing
a soil of great fertility, especially adapted for the growth of vines. The summit
of the mountain, as described to him by those who had lately ascended it, was
a level plain of about 20 stadia in circumference, surrounded by a brow or ridge
like a wall. In the midst of this plain, which consisted of deep and hot sand,
rose a small hillock of similar aspect, over which hung a cloud of smoke rising
to a height of about 200 feet. He, however, justly adds, that these appearances
were subject to constant variations, and that there was sometimes only one crater,
sometimes more. (Strab. vi. pp. 269, 273, 274.) It is evident from this account
that the ascent of the mountain was in his time a common enterprise. Lucilius
also speaks of it as not unusual for people to ascend to the very edge of the
crater, and offer incense to the tutelary gods of the mountain (Lucil. Aetna,
336; see also Seneca, Ep. 79), and we are told that the emperor Hadrian, when
he visited Sicily, made the ascent for the purpose of seeing the sun rise from
thence. (Spart. Hadr. 13.) It is therefore a strange mistake in Claudian (de Rapt.
Proserp. i. 158) to represent the summit as inaccessible. At a distance of less
than 1400 feet from the highest point are some remains of a brick building, clearly
of Roman work, commonly known by the name of the Torre del Filosofo, from a vulgar
tradition connecting it with Empedocles: this has been supposed, with far more
plausibility, to derive its origin from the visit of Hadrian. (Smyth's Sicily,
p. 149; Ferrara, Descriz. dell' Etna, p. 28.)
Many ancient writers describe the upper part of Aetna as clothed with
perpetual snow. Pindar calls it the nurse of the keen snow all the year long (Pyth.
i. 36), and the apparent contradiction of its perpetual fires and everlasting
snows is a favourite subject of declamation with the rhetorical poets and prose
writers of a later period. (Sil. Ital. xiv. 58--69; Claudian. de Rapt. Pros. i.
164; Solin. 5. § 9.) Strabo and Pliny more reasonably state that it was covered
with snow in the winter; and there is no reason to believe that its condition
in early ages differed from its present state in this respect. The highest parts
of the mountain are still covered with snow for seven or eight months in the year,
and occasionally patches of it will lie in hollows and rifts throughout the whole
summer. The forests which clothe the middle regions of the mountain are alluded
to by many writers (Strab. vi. p. 273; Claud. l. c. 159); and Diodorus tells us
that Dionysius of Syracuse derived from thence great part of the materials for
the construction of his fleet in B.C. 399. (Diod. xiv. 42.)
It was natural that speculations should early be directed to the causes
of the remarkable phenomena exhibited by Aetna. A mythological fable, adopted
by almost all the poets from Pindar downwards, ascribed them to the struggle of
the giant Typhoeus (or Enceladus according to others), who had been buried under
the lofty pile by Zeus after the defeat of the giants. (Pind. Pyth. i. 35; Aesch.
Prom. 365; Virg. Aen. iii. 578; Ovid. Met. v. 346; Claud. l.c. 152; Lucil. Aetna,
41--71.) Others assigned it as the workshop of Vulcan, though this was placed
by the more ordinary tradition in the Aeolian islands. Later and more philosophical
writers ascribed the eruptions to the violence of the winds, pent up in subteranean
caverns, abounding with sulphur and other inflammable substances; while others
conceived them to originate from the action of the waters of the sea upon the
same materials. Both these theories are discussed and developed by Lucretius,
but at much greater length by the author of a separate poem entitled Aetna, which
was for a long time ascribed to Cornelius Severus, but has been attributed by
its more recent editors, Wernsdorf and Jacob, to the younger Lucilius, the friend
and contemporary of Seneca.2 It contains some powerful passages, but is disfigured
by obscurity, and adds little to our [p. 63] knowledge of the history or phenomena
of the mountain. (Lucret. vi. 640--703; Lucil. Aetna, 92, et seq; Justin, iv.
1; Seneca, Epist. 79; Claudian, l. c. 169--176.) The connection of these volcanic
phenomena with the earthquakes by which the island was frequently agitated, was
too obvious to escape notice, and was indeed implied in the popular tradition.
Some writers also asserted that there was a subterranean communication between
Aetna and the Aeolian islands, and that the eruptions of the former were observed
to alternate with those of Hiera and Strongyle. (Diod. v. 7.)
The name of Aetna was evidently derived from its fiery character,
and has the same root as aitho, to burn. But in later times a mythological origin
was found for it, and the mountain was supposed to have received its name from
a nymph, Aetna, the daughter of Uranus and Gaea, or, according to others, of Briareus.
(Schol. ad Theocr. Id. i. 65.) The mountain itself is spoken of by Pindar (Pyth.
i. 57) as consecrated to Zeus; but at a later period Solinus calls it sacred to
Vulcan; and we learn that there existed on it a temple of that deity. This was
not, however, as supposed by some writers, near the summit of the mountain, but
in the middle or forest region, as we are told that it was surrounded by a grove
of sacred trees. (Solin. 5. § 9; Aelian, H. A. xi. 3.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΚΡΑΓΑΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Agrigentum, Akragas: Eth. and Adj. Akragantinos, Agrigentinus: Girgenti.
One of the most powerful and celebrated of the Greek cities in Sicily, was situated
on the SW. coast of the island, about midway between Selinus and Gela. It stood
on a hill between two and three miles from the sea, the foot of which was washed
on the E. and S. by a river named the Acragas from whence the city itself derived
its appellation, on the W. and SW. by another stream named the Hypsas which unites
its waters with those of the Acragas just below the city, and about a mile from
its mouth. The former is now called the Fiume di S. Biagio, the latter the Drago,
while their united stream is commonly knomn as the Fiume di Girgenti (Polyb. ix.
27; Siefert, Akragas u. sein Gebiet, p. 20-22).
We learn from Thucydides that Agrigentum was founded by a colony from
Gela, 108 years after the establishment of the parent city, or B.C. 582. The leaders
of the colony were Aristonous and Pystilus, and it received the Dorian institutions
of the mother country, including the sacred rites and observances which had been
derived by Gela itself from Rhodes. On this account it is sometimes called a Rhodian
colony. (Thuc. vi. 4; Scymn. Ch. 292; Strab. vi. p. 272, where Kramerjustly reads
Geloion for Ionon; Polyb. ix. 27. Concerning the date of its foundation see Schol.
ad Pind. Ol. ii. 66; and Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. p. 265.) We have very little
information concerning its early history, but it appears to have very rapidly
risen to great prosperity and power: though it preserved its liberty for but a
very short period before it fell under the yoke of Phalaris (about 570 B.C.).
The history of that despot is involved in so much uncertainty that it is difficult
to know what part of it can be depended on as really historical. But it seems
certain that he raised Agrigentum to be one of the most powerful cities in Sicily,
and extended his dominion by force of arms over a considerable part of the island.
But the cruel and tyrannical character of his internal government at length provoked
a general insurrection, in which Phalaris himself perished, and the Agrigentines
recovered their liberty. (Diod. Exc. Vat. p. 25; Cic. de Off: ii. 7; Heraclides,
Polit. 37.) From this period till the accession of Theron, an interval of about
60 years, we have no information concerning Agrigentum, except a casual notice
that it was successively governed by Alcamenes and Alcandrus (but whether as despots
or chief magistrates does not appear), and that it rose to great wealth and prosperity
under their rule. (Heraclid.) The precise date when Theron attained to the sovereignty
of his native city, as well as the steps by which he rose to power, are unknown
to us: but he appears to have become despot of Agrigentum as early as B.C. 488.
(Diod. xi. 53.) By his alliance with Gelon of Syracuse, and still more by the
expulsion of Terillus from Himera, and the annexation of that city to his dominions,
Theron extended as well as confirmed his power, and the great Carthaginian invasion
in B.C. 480, which for a time threatened destruction to all the Greek cities in
Sicily, ultimately became a source of increased prosperity to Agrigentum. For
after the great victory of Gelon and Theron at Himera, a vast number of Carthaginian
prisoners fell into the hands of the Agrigentines, and were employed by them partly
in the cultivation of their extensive and fertile territory, partly in the construction
of public works in the city itself, the magnificence of which was long afterwards
a subject of admiration. (Diod. xi. 25.) Nor does the government of Theron appear
to have been oppressive, and he continued in the undisturbed possession of the
sovereign power till his death, B.C. 472. His son Thrasydaeus on the contrary
quickly alienated his subjects by his violent and arbitrary conduct, and was expelled
from Agrigentum within a year after his father's death.
The Agrigentines now established a democratic form of government,
which they retained without interruption for the space of above 60 years, until
the Carthaginian invasion in B.C. 406-a period which may be regarded as the most
prosperous and flourishing in the history of Agrigentum, as well as of many others
of the Sicilian cities. The great public works which were commenced or completed
during this interval were the wonder of succeeding ages; the city itself was adorned
with buildings both public and private, inferior to none in Greece, and the wealth
and magnificence of its inhabitants became almost proverbial. Their own citizen
Empedocles is said to have remarked that they built their houses as if they were
to live for ever, but gave themselves up to luxury as if they were to die on the
morrow. (Diog. Laert. viii. 2. § 63.) The number of citizens of Agrigentum
at this time is stated by Diodorus at 20,000: but he estimates the whole population
(including probably slaves as well as strangers) at not less than 200,000 (Diod.
xiii. 84 and 90), a statement by no means improbable, while that of Diogenes Laertius,
who makes the population of the city alone amount to 800,000, is certainly a gross
exaggeration.
This period was however by no means one of unbroken peace. Agrigentum
could not avoid participating-though in a less degree than many other cities-in
the troubles consequent on the expulsion of the Gelonian dynasty from Syracuse,
and the revolutions that followed in different parts of Sicily. Shortly afterwards
we find it engaged in hostilities with the Sicel chief Ducetius, and the conduct
of the Syracusans towards that chieftain led to a war between them and the Agrigentines,
which ended in a great defeat of the latter at the river Himera, B.C. 446. (Diod.
xi. 76, 91, xii. 8.) We find also obscure notices of internal dissensions, which
were allayed by the wisdom and moderation of Empedocles. (Diog. Laert. viii. 2.
§ 64-67.) On occasion of the great Athenian expedition to Sicily in B.C. 415,
Agrigentum maintained a strict neutrality, and not only declined sending auxiliaries
to either party but refused to allow a passage through their territory to those
of other cities. And even when the tide of fortune had turned decidedly against
the Athenians, all the efforts of the Syracusan partisans within the walls of
Agrigentum failed in inducing their fellow-citizens to declare for the victorious
party. (Thuc. vii. 32, 33, 46, 50, 58.)
A more formidable danger was at hand. The Carthaginians, whose intervention
was invoked by the Segestans, were contented in their first expedition (B.C. 409)
with the capture of Selinus and Himera: but when the second was sent in B.C. 406
it was Agrigentum that was destined to bear the first brunt of the attack. The
luxurious habits of the Agrigentines had probably rendered them little fit for
warfare, but they were supported by a body of mercenaries under the command of
a Lacedaemonian named Dexippus, who occupied the citadel, and the natural strength
of the city in great measure defied the efforts of the assailants. But notwithstanding
these advantages and the efficient aid rendered them by a Syracusan army under
Daphnaeus, they were reduced to such distress by famine that after a siege of
eight months they found it impossible to hold out longer, and to avoid surrendering
to the enemy, abandoned their city, and migrated to Gela. The sick and helpless
inhabitants were massacred, and the city itself with all its wealth and magnificence
plundered by the Carthaginians, who occupied it as their quarters during the winter,
but completed its destruction when they quitted it in the spring, B.C. 405. (Diod.
xiii. 80-91, 108; Xen. Hell. i. 5. 21)
Agrigentum never recovered from this fatal blow, though by the terms
of the peace concluded with Dionysius by the Carthaginians, the fugitive inhabitants
were permitted to return, and to occupy the ruined city, subject however to the
Carthaginian rule, and on condition of not restoring the fortifications, a permission
of which many appear to have availed themselves. (Diod. xiii. 114.) A few years
later they were even able to shake off the yoke of Carthage and attach themselves
to the cause of Dionysius, and the peace of B.C. 383, which fixed the river Halycus
as the boundary of the Carthaginian dominions, must have left them in the enjoyment
of their liberty; but though we find them repeatedly mentioned during the wars
of Dionysius and his successors, it is evident that the city was far from having
recovered its previous importance, and continued to play but a subordinate part.
(Diod. xiv. 46, 88, xv. 17, xvi. 9; Plut. Dion, 25, 26, 49.) In the general settlement
of the affairs of Sicily by Timoleon, after his great victory over the Carthaginians
on the Crimissus, B.C. 340, he found Agrigentum in a state of such depression
that he resolved to recolonise it with citizens from Velia in Italy (Plut. Timol.
35.): a measure which, combined with other benefits, proved of such advantage
to the city, that Timoleon was looked upon as their second founder: and during
the interval of peace which followed, Agrigentum again attained to such great
prosperity as to become once more the rival of Syracuse.
Shortly after the accession of Agathocles, the Agrigentines, becoming apprehensive
that he was aspiring to the dominion of the whole island, entered into a league
with the Geloans and Messenians to oppose his power, and obtained from Sparta
the assistance of Acrotatus the son of Cleomenes as their general: but the character
of that prince frustrated all their plans, and after his expulsion they were compelled
to purchase peace from Syracuse by the acknowledgement of the Hegemony or supremacy
of that city, B.C. 314. (Diod. xix. 70,71.) Some years afterwards, in B.C. 309,
the absence of Agathocles in Africa, and the reverses sustained by his partisans
in Sicily, appeared again to offer a favourable opening to the ambition of the
Agrigentines, who chose Xenodocus for. their general, and openly aspired to the
Hegemony of Sicily, proclaiming at the same time the independence of the several
cities. They were at first very successful: the powerful cities of Gela and Enna
joined their cause, Herbessus and Echetla were taken by force; but when Xenodocus
ventured on a pitched battle with Leptines and Demophilus, the generals of Agathocles,
he sustained a severe defeat, and was compelled to shut himself up within the
walls of Agrigentum. Agathocles himself shortly afterwards returned from Africa,
and quickly recovered almost all that he had lost: his general Leptines invaded
the territory of Agrigentum, totally defeated Xenodocus, and compelled the Agrigentines
once more to sue for peace. (Diod. xx. 31, 32, 56, 62.)
After the death of Agathocles, Agrigentum fell under the yoke of Phintias,
who became despot of the city, and assumed the title of king. We have very little
information concerning the period of his rule, but he appears to have attained
to great power, as we find Agyrium and other cities of the interior subject to
his dominion, as well as Gela, which he destroyed, in order to found a new city
named after himself. The period of his expulsion is unknown, but at the time when
Pyrrhus landed in Sicily we find Agrigentum occupied by Sosistratus with a strong
force of mercenary troops, who however hastened to make his submission to the
king of Epeirus. (Diod. xxii. Exc. Hoesch. p. 495-497.)
On the commencement of the First Punic War, Agrigentum espoused the
cause of the Carthaginians, and even permitted their general Hannibal to fortify
their citadel, and occupy the city with a Carthaginian garrison. Hence after the
Romans had secured the alliance of Hieron of Syracuse, their principal efforts
were directed to the reduction of Agrigentum, and in B.C. 262 the two consuls
L. Postumius and Q. Mamilius laid siege to it with their whole force. The siege
lasted nearly as long as that by the Carthaginians in B.C. 406, and the Romans
suffered severely from disease and want of provisions, but the privations of the
besieged were still greater, and the Carthaginian general Hanno, who had advanced
with a large army to relieve the city, having been totally defeated by the Roman
consuls, Hannibal who commanded the army within the walls found it impossible
to hold out any longer, and made his escape in the night with the Carthaginian
and mercenary troops, leaving the city to its fate. It was immediately occupied
by the Romans who carried off 25,000 of the inhabitants into slavery. The siege
had lasted above seven months, and is said to have cost the victorious army more
than 30,000 men. (Diod. xxiii. Exc. Hoesch. p. 501-503; Polyb. i. 17-19; Zonar.
viii. 10.) At a later period of the war (B.C. 255) successive losses at sea having
greatly weakened the Roman power in Sicily, the Carthaginian general Carthalo
recovered possession of Agrigentum with comparatively little difficulty, when
he once more laid the city in ashes and razed its walls, the surviving inhabitants
having taken refuge in the temple of the Olympian Zeus. (Diod. l. c. p. 505.)
From this time we hear no more of Agrigentum till the end of the First
Punic War, when it passed under the dominion of Rome: but it must have in some
degree recovered from its late calamities, as it plays no unimportant part when
the contest between Rome and Carthage was renewed in the Second Punic War. On
this occasion it continued steadfast in its adherence to the Romans, but was surprised
and taken by Himilco, before Marcellus could arrive to its support (Liv. xxiv.
35.): and from henceforth became the chief stronghold of the Carthaginians in
Sicily, and held out against the Roman consul Laevinus long after the other cities
in the island had submitted. At length the Numidian Mutines, to whose courage
and skill the Carthaginians owed their protracted defence, having been offended
by their general Hanno, betrayed the city into the hands of Laevinus, B.C. 210.
The leading citizens were put to death, and the rest sold as slaves. (Liv. xxv.
40, 41, xxvi. 40.)
Agrigentum now became, in common with the rest of the Sicilian cities,
permanently subject to Rome: but it was treated with much favour and enjoyed many
privileges. Three years after its capture a number of new citizens from other
parts of Sicily were established there by the praetor Mamilius, and two years
after this the municipal rights and privileges of the citizens were determined
by Scipio Africanus in a manner so satisfactory that they continued unaltered
till the time of Verres. Cicero repeatedly mentions Agrigentum as one of the most
wealthy and populous cities of Sicily, the fertility of its territory and the
convenience of its port rendering it one of the chief emporiums for the trade
in corn. (Cic. Verr. ii. 5. 0, 62, iii. 43, iv. 33, 43.) It is certain, however,
that it did not in his day rank as a Roman colony, and it is very doubtful whether
it ever attained this distinction, though we find that it was allowed to strike
coins, with the Latin inscription AGKIGENTUM, as late as the time of Augustus.
(Eckhel, D. N. vol. i. p. 193.)2 If it really obtained the title and privileges
of a colony under that emperor, it must have soon lost them, as neither Pliny
nor Ptolemy reckon it among the Roman colonies in Sicily. From the time of Augustus
we find no historical mention of it under the Roman empire, but its continued
existence is attested by the geographers and Itineraries, and as long as Sicily
remained subject to the Greek empire, Agrigentum is still mentioned as one of
its most considerable cities. (Strab. vi. p. 272; Plin. H. N. iii. 8. § 14; Ptol.
iii. 4. § 14; Itin. Ant. p. 88; Tab. Peut.; Const. Porph. de Prov. ii. 10.) It
was one of the first places that fell into the hands of the Saracens on their
invasion of Sicily in 827, and was wrested from them by the Normans under Roger
Guiscard in 1086. The modern city of Girgenti still contains about 13,000 inhabitants,
and, is the see of a bishop, and capital of one of the seven districts or Intendenze
into which Sicily is now divided.
The situation of Agrigentum is well described by Polybius (ix. 27).
It occupied a hill of considerable extent, rising between two small rivers, the
Acragas and Hypsas, of which the southern front, though of small elevation, presented
a steep escarpment, running nearly in a straight line from E. to W. From hence
the ground sloped gradually upwards, though traversed by a cross valley or depression,
towards a much more elevated ridge which formed the northern portion of the city,
and was divided into two summits, the north-western, on which stands the modern
city of Girgenti, and the north-eastern, which derived from a temple of Athena,
that crowned its height, the name of the Athenaean hill (d Athenaios lophos, Diod.
xiii. 85). This summit, which attains to the height of 1200 feet above the sea,
and is the most elevated of the whole city, is completely precipitous and inaccessible
towards the N. and E., and could be approached only by one steep and narrow path
from the city itself. Hence, it formed the natural citadel or acropolis of Agrigentum,
while the gentle slopes and broad valley which separate it from the southern ridge,-now
covered with gardens and fruit-trees,-afforded, ample space for the extension
and development of the city itself: Great as was the natural strength of its position,
the whole city was surrounded with walls, of which considerable portions still
remain, especially along the southern front: their whole circuit was about 6 miles.
The peculiarities of its situation sufficiently explain the circumstances of the
two great sieges of Agrigentum, in both of which it will be observed that the
assailants confined all their attacks to the southern and south-western parts
of the city, wholly neglecting the north and east. Diodorus, indeed, expressly
tells us that there was only one quarter (that adjoining the river Hypsas) where
the walls could be approached by military engines, and assaulted with any prospect
of success. (Diod. xiii. 85.)
Agrigentum was not less celebrated in ancient times for the beauty
of its architecture, and the splendour and variety of its buildings, both public
and private, than for its strength as a fortress. Pindar calls it the fairest
of mortal cities (kallista brotean poleon, Pyth. xii. 2), though many of its most
striking ornaments were probably not erected till after his time. The magnificence
of the private dwellings of the Agrigentines is sufficiently attested by the saying
of Empedocles already cited: their public edifices are the theme of admiration
with many ancient writers. Of its temples, probably the most ancient were that
of Zeus Atabyrios, whose worship they derived from Rhodes, and that of Athena,
both of which stood on the highest summit of the Athenaean hill above the city.
(Polyb. l. c.) The temple of Zeus Polieus, the construction of which is ascribed
to Phalaris (Polyaen. v. l. § 1), is supposed to have stood on the hill occupied
by the modern city of Girgenti, which appears to have formed a second citadel
or acropolis, in some measure detached from the more lofty summit to the east
of it. Some fragments of ancient walls, still existing in those of the church
of Sta Maria de' Greci, are considered to have belonged to this temple. But far
more celebrated than these was the great temple of the Olympian Zeus, which was
commenced by the Agrigentines at the period of their greatest power and prosperity,
but was not quite finished at the time of the Carthaginian invasion in B.C. 406,
and in consequence of that calamity was never completed. It is described in considerable
detail by Diodorus, who tells us that it was 340 feet long, 160 broad, and 120
in height, without reckoning the basement. The columns were not detached, but
engaged in the wall, from which only half of their circumference projected: so
gigantic were their dimensions, that each of the flutings would admit a man's
body. (Diod. xiii. 82; Polyb. ix. 27.) Of this vast edifice nothing remains but
the basement, and a few fragments of the columns and entablature, but even these
suffice to confirm the accuracy of the statements of Diodorus, and to prove that
the temple must not only have greatly exceeded all others in Sicily, but was probably
surpassed in magnitude by no Grecian building of the kind, except that of Diana
at Ephesus. A considerable portion of it (including several columns, and three
gigantic figures, which served as Atlantes to support an entablature), appears
to have remained standing till the year 1401, when it fell down: and the vast
masses of fallen fragments were subsequently employed in the construction of the
mole, which protects the present port of Girgenti. (Fazell. vol. i. p. 248; Smyth's
Sicily, p. 203.)
Besides these, we find mention in ancient writers of a temple of Hercules,
near the Agora, containing a statue of that deity of singular beauty and excellence
(Cic. Verr. iv. 4. 3), and one of Aesculapius without the walls, on the south
side of the city (Cic. l. c.; Polyb. i. 1 8), the remains of which are still visible,
not far from the bank of the river Acragas. It contained a celebrated statue of
Apollo, in bronze, the work of Myron, which Verres in vain endeavoured to carry
off. Of the other temples, the ruins of which are extant on the site of Agrigentum,
and are celebrated by all travellers in Sicily, the ancient appellations cannot
be determined with any certainty. The most conspicuous are two which stand on
the southern ridge facing the sea: one of these at the S. E. angle of the city,
is commonly known as the temple of Juno Lacinia, a name which rests only on a
misconception of a passage of Pliny (H. N. xxxv. 9. § 36): it is in a half ruined
state, but its basement is complete, and many of its columns still standing. Its
position on the projecting angle of the ridge, with a precipitous bank below it
on two sides, gives it a singularly picturesque and striking character. A few
hundred paces to the W. of this stands another temple, in far better preservation,
being indeed the most perfect which remains in Sicily; it is commonly called the
temple of Concord, from an inscription said to have been discovered there, but
which (if authentic) is of Roman date, while both this temple and that just described
must certainly be referred to the most flourishing period of Agrigentine history,
or the fifth century B.C. They are both of the Doric order, and of much the same
dimensions: both are peripfteral, or surrounded with a portico, consisting of
6 columns in front, and 13 on each side. The existing vestiges of other temples
are much less considerable: one to the W. of that of Concord, of which only one
column is standing, is commonly regarded as that of Hercules, mentioned by Cicero.
Its plan and design have been completely ascertained by recent excavations, which
have proved that it was much the largest of those remaining at Agrigentum, after
that of the Olympian Zeus: it had 15 columns in the side and 6 in front. Another,
a little to the north of it, of which considerable portions have been preserved,
and brought to light by excavation on the spot, bears the name, though certainly
without authority, of Castor and Pollux: while another, on the opposite side of
a deep hollow or ravine, of which two columns remain, is styled that of Vulcan.
A small temple or aedicula, near the convent of S. Nicolo, is commonly known by
the designation of the Oratory of Phalaris : it is of insignificant size, and
certainly of Roman date. The church of St. Blasi, or S.Biagio, near the eastern
extremity of the Athenaean hill, is formed out of the cella of an ancient temple,
which is supposed, but without any authority, to have been dedicated to Ceres
and Proserpine. (For full details concerning these temples, and the other ruins
still visible at Girgenti, see Swinburne's Travels, vol. ii. p. 280--291; Smyth's
Sicily, p. 207-212; D'Orville's Sicula, p. 89-103; Siefert, Akragas, p. 24-38;
and especially Serra di Falco, Antichita della Sicilia, vol. iii., who gives the
results of recent labours on the spot, many of which were unknown to former writers.)
Next to the temple of the Olympian Zeus, the public work of which
Diodorus speaks with the greatest admiration (xi. 25, xiii. 72), was a piscina,
or reservoir of water, constructed in the time of Theron, which was not less than
seven stadia in circumference, and was plentifully stocked with fish, and frequented
by numerous swans. It had fallen into decay, and become filled with mud in the
time of the historian, but its site is supposed to be still indicated by a deep
hollow or depression in the S. western portion of the city, between the temple
of Vulcan and that of Castor and Pollux, now converted into a garden. Connected
with this was an extensive system of subterranean sewers and conduits for water,
constructed on a scale far superior to those of any other Greek city: these were
called Phaeaces, from the name of their architect Phaeax.
It was not only in their public buildings that the Agrigentines, during
the flourishing period of their city, loved to display their wealth and luxury.
An ostentatious magnificence appears to have characterised their habits of life,
in other respects also: and showed itself especially in their love of horses and
chariots. Their territory was celebrated for the excellence of its breed of horses
(Virg. Aen. iii. 704), an advantage which enabled them repeatedly to bear away
the prize in the chariot-race at the Olympic games: and it is recorded that after
one of these occasions the victor Exaenetus was accompanied on his triumphant
entry into his native city by no less than three hundred chariots, all drawn by
white horses. (Diod. xiii. 82.) Not less conspicuous and splendid were the hospitalities
of the more wealthy citizens. Those of Theron are celebrated by Pindar (01. iii.
70), but even these probably fell short of those of later days. Gellias, a citizen
noted even at Agrigentum for his wealth and splendour of living, is said to have
lodged and feasted at once five hundred knights from Gela, and Antisthenes, on
occasion of his daughter's marriage, furnished a banquet to all the citizens of
Agrigentum in the several quarters they inhabited. (Diod. xiii. 83, 84.) These
luxurious habits were not unaccompanied with a refined taste for the cultivation
of the fine arts: their temples and public buildings were adorned with the choicest
works of sculpture and painting, many of which were carried off by Himilco to
Carthage, and some of them after the fall of that city restored to Agrigentum
by Scipio Africanus. (Diod. xiii. 90; Cic. Verr. iv. 4. 3; Plin. H. N. xxxv. 9.
s. 36.) A like spirit of ostentation was displayed in the magnitude and splendour
of their sepulchral monuments; and they are said to have even erected costly,
tombs to favourite horses and to pet birds. (Diod. xiii. 82; Plin. H. N. 42. 64;
Solin. 45. § 11.) The plain in front of the city, occupying the space from the
southern wall to the confluence of the two rivers, was full of these sepulchres
and monuments, among which that of Theron was conspicuous for its magnitude (Diod.
xiii. 86): the name is now commonly given to the only structure of the kind which
remains, though it is of inconsiderable dimensions, and belongs, in all probability,
to the Roman period.
For this extraordinary wealth Agrigentum was indebted, in a great
measure, to the fertility of its territory, which abounded not only in corn, as
it continued to do in the time of Cicero, and still does at the present day, but
was especially fruitful in vines and olives, with the produce of which it supplied
Carthage, and the whole of the adjoining parts of Africa, where their cultivation
was as yet unknown. (Diod. xi. 25, xiii. 81.) The vast multitude of slaves which
fell to the lot of the Agrigentines, after the great victory of Himera, contributed
greatly to their prosperity, by enabling them to bring into careful cultivation
the whole of their extensive and fertile domain. The allies on the banks of its
river furnished excellent pasture for sheep (Pind. Pyth. xii. 4), and in later
times, when the neighboring country had ceased to be so richly cultivated, it
was noted for the excellence of its cheeses. (Plin. H. N. xi. 42. 97.)
It is difficult to determine with precision the extent and boundaries
of the territory of Agrigentum, which must indeed have varied greatly at different
times : but it would seem to have extended as far as the river Himera on the E.,
and to have been bounded by the Halycus on the W.; though at one time it must
have comprised a considerable extent of country beyond that river; and on the
other hand Heraclea Minoa, on the eastern bank of the Halycus, was for a long
time independent of Agrigentum. Towards the interior it probably extended as far
as the mountain range in which those two rivers have their sources, the Nebrodes
Mons, or Monte Madonia, which separated it from the territory of Himera. (Siefert,
Akragas, p. 9-11.) Among the smaller towns and places subject to its dominion
are mentioned Motyum and Erbessus in the interior of the country, Camicus the
ancient fortress of Cocalus (erroneously supposed by many writers to have occupied
the site of the modern town of Girgenti), Ecnomus on the borders of the territory
of Gela, and subsequently Phintias founded by the despot of that name, on the
site of the modern Alicata.
Of the two rivers which flowed beneath the walls of Agrigentum, the
most considerable was the Acragas from whence according to the common consent
of most ancient authors the city derived its name. Hence it was worshipped as
one of the tutelary deities of the city, and statues erected to it by the Agrigentines,
both in Sicily and at Delphi, in which it was represented under the figure of
a young man, probably with horns on his forehead, as we find it on the coins of
Agrigentum. (Pind. Ol. ii. 16, Pyth. xii. 5, and Schol. ad locc.; Empedocles ap.
Diog. Laert. viii. 2. § 63; Steph. Byz. v. Akragas; Aelian. V. H. ii. 33; Castell.
Numm. Sic. Vet. p. 8.) At its mouth was situated the Port or Emporium of Agrigentum,
mentioned by Strabo and Ptolemy; but notwithstanding the extensive commerce of
which this was at one time the centre, it had little natural advantages, and must
have been mainly formed by artificial constructions. Considerable remains of these,
half buried in sand, were still visible in the time of Fazello, but have since
in great measure disappeared. The modern port of Girgenti is situated above three
miles further west. (Strab. vi. pp. 266, 272; Ptol. iii. 4. § 6; Fazell. vi. 1.
p. 246; Smyth's Sicily, pp. 202,203.)
Among the natural productions of the neighbourhood of Agrigentum,
we find no mention in ancient authors of the mines of sulphur, which are at the
present day one of the chief sources of prosperity to Girgenti; but its mines
of salt (still worked at a place called Aborangi, about 8 miles north of the city),
are alluded to both by Pliny and Solinus. (Plin. H. N. xxxi. 7. s. 41; Solin.
5. § § 18, 19.) Several writers also notice a fountain in the immediate neighbourhood
of the city, which produced Petroleum or mineral oil, considered to be of great
efficacy as a medicament for cattle and sheep. The source still exists in a garden
not far from Girgenti, and is frequently resorted to by the peasants for the same
purpose. (Dioscorid. i. 100; Plin. H. N. xxxv. 15. s. 51; Solin. 5. § 22 ; Fazell.
de Reb. Sicul. vi. p. 261; Ferrara, Campi Flegrei della Sicilia, p. 43.) A more
remarkable object is the mud volcano (now called by the Arabic name of Maccalubba)
about 4 miles N. of Girgenti, the phenomena of which are described by Solinus,
but unnoticed by any previous writer. (Solin. 5. § 24; Fazell. p. 262 ; Ferrara,
l. c. p. 44; Smyth's Sicily, p. 213.)
Among the numerous distinguished citizens to whom Agrigentum gave
birth, the most conspicuous is the philosopher Empedocles : among his contemporaries
we may mention the rhetorician Polus, and the physician Acron. Of earlier date
than these was the comic poet Deinolochus, the pupil, but at the same time the
rival, of Epicharmus. Philinus, the historian of the First Punic War, is the latest
writer of eminence, who was a native of Agrigentum.
The extant architectural remains of Agrigentum have been already noticed
in speaking of its ancient edifices. Besides these, numerous fragments of buildings,
some of Greek and others of Roman date, are scattered over the site of the ancient
city: and great numbers of sepulchres have been excavated, some in the plain below
the city, others within its walls. The painted vases found in these tombs greatly
exceed in number and variety those discovered in any other Sicilian city, and
rival those of Campania and Apulia.
But with this exception comparatively few works of art have been discovered.
A sarcophagus of marble, now preserved in the cathedral of Girgenti, on which
is represented the story of Phaedra and Hippolytus, has been greatly extolled
by many travellers, but its merits are certainly over-rated.
There exist under the hill occupied by the modern city extensive catacombs
or excavations in the rock, which have been referred by many writers to the ancient
Sicanians, or ascribed to Daedalus. It is probable that, like the very similar
excavations at Syracuse, they were, in fact, constructed merely in the process
of quarrying stone for building purposes.
The coins of Agrigentum, which are very numerous and of beautiful
workmanship, present as their common type an eagle on the one side and a crab
on the other. The one here figured, on which the eagle is represented as tearing
a hare, belongs undoubtedly to the most flourishing period of Agrigentine history,
that immediately preceding the siege and capture of the city by the Carthaginians,
B.C. 406. Other coins of the same period have a quadriga on the reverse, in commemoration
of their victories at the Olympic games.
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ΑΚΡΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Acrae (Akrai, Thuc. et alii; Akra, Steph. B.; Akraiai, Ptol.; Akraioi,
Steph. B.; Acrenses, Plin.; Palazzolo), a city of Sicily, situated in the southern
portion of the island, on a lofty hill, nearly due W. of Syracuse, from which
it was distant, according to the Itineraries, 24 Roman miles (Itin. Ant. p. 87;
Tab. Peut.). It was a colony of Syracuse, founded, as we learn from Thucydides,
70 years after its parent city, i. e. 663 B.C. (Thuc. vi. 5), but it did not rise
to any great importance, and continued almost always in a state of dependence
on Syracuse. Its position must, however, have always given it some consequence
in a military point of view; and we find Dion, when marching upon Syracuse, halting
at Acrae to watch the effect of his proceedings. (Plut. Dion, 27, where we should
certainly read Akras for Makras.) By the treaty concluded by the Romans with Hieron,
king of Syracuse, Acrae was included in the dominions of that monarch (Diod. xxiii.
Exc. p. 502), and this was probably the period of its greatest prosperity. During
the Second Punic War it followed the fortunes of Syracuse, and afforded a place
of refuge to Hippocrates, after his defeat by Marcellus at Acrillae, B.C. 214.
(Liv. xxiv. 36.) This is the last mention of it in history, and its name is not
once noticed by Cicero. It was probably in his time a mere dependency of Syracuse,
though it is found in Pliny's list of the stipendiariae civitates, so that it
must then have possessed a separate municipal existence. (Plin. iii. 8; Ptol.
iii. 4. § 14.) The site of Acrae was correctly fixed by Fazello at the modern
Palazzolo, lofty and bleak situation of which corresponds. with the description
of Silius Italicus ( tumulis glacialibus Acrae, xiv. 206), and its distance from
Syracuse with that assigned by the Itineraries. The summit of the hill occupied
by the modern town is said to be still called Acremonte. Fazello speaks of the
ruins visible there as egregium urbis cadaver, and the recent researches and excavations
carried on by the Baron Judica have brought to light ancient remains of much interest.
The most considerable of these are two theatres, both in very fair preservation,
of which the largest is turned towards the N., while immediately adjacent to it
on the W. is a much smaller one, hollowed out in great part from the rock, and
supposed from some peculiarities in its construction to have been intended to
serve as an Odeum, or theatre for music. Numerous other architectural fragments,
attesting the existence of temples and other buildings, have also been brought
to light, as well as statues, pedestals, inscriptions, and other minor relics.
On an adjoining hill are great numbers of tombs excavated in the rock, while on
the hill of Acremonte itself are some monuments of a singular character; figures
as large as life, hewn in relief in shallow niches on the surface of the native
rock. As the principal figure in all these sculptures appears to be that of the
goddess Isis, they must belong to a late period. (Fazell. de Reb. Sic. vol. i.
p. 452; Serra di Falco, Antichita di Sicilia, vol. iv. p. 158, seq.; Judica, Antichita
di Acre.)
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ΑΚΡΙΛΛΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Acrilla or Acrillae (Akrilla)), a town of Sicily, known only from
Stephanus of Byzantium (s. v.), who tells us that it was not far from Syracuse.
But there can be no doubt that it is the same place mentioned by Livy (xxiv. 35)
where the Syracusan army under Hippocrates was defeated by Marcellus. The old
editions of Livy have Accilae, for which Acrillae, the emendation of Cluverius,
has been received by all the recent editors. From this passage we learn that it
was on the line of march from Agrigentum to Syracuse, and not far from Acrae;
but the exact site is undetermined. Plutarch (Marcell. 18), in relating the same
event, writes the name Akilas or Akillas.
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ΑΛΑΙΣΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Alaesa or Halesa (Alaisa, Diod.; Strab.; Ptol.; Halesa, Sil. Ital.
xiv. 218; Halesini, Cic. Plin.), a city of Sicily, situated near the north coast
of the island, between Cephaloedium and Calacta. It was of Siculian origin, and
its foundation is related by Diodorus, who informs us that in B.C. 403 the inhabitants
of Herbita (a Siculian city), having concluded peace with Dionysius of Syracuse,
their ruler or chief magistrate Archonides determined to quit the city and found
a new colony, which he settled partly with citizens of Herbita, and partly with
mercenaries and other strangers who collected around him through enmity towards
Dionysius. He gave to this new colony the name of Alaesa, to which the epithet
Archonidea was frequently added for the purpose of distinction. Others attributed
the foundation of the city, but erroneously, to the Carthaginians. (Diod. xiv.
16.) It quickly rose to prosperity by maritime commerce: and at the commencement
of the First Punic War was one of the first of the Sicilian cities to make its
submission to the Romans, to whose alliance it continued steadily faithful. It
was doubtless to its conduct in this respect, and to the services that it was
able to render to the Romans during their wars in Sicily, that it was indebted
for the peculiar privilege of retaining its own laws and independence, exempt
from all taxation:--an advantage enjoyed by only five cities of Sicily. (Diod.
xiv. 16, xxiii. Exc. H. p. 501; Cic. Verr. ii. 4. 9, 69, iii. 6.) In consequence
of this advantageous position it rose rapidly in wealth and prosperity, and became
one of the most flourishing cities of Sicily. On one occasion its citizens, having
been involved in disputes among themselves concerning the choice of the senate,
C. Claudius Pulcher was sent, at their own request in B.C. 95, to regulate the
matter by a law, which he did to the satisfaction of all parties. But their privileges
did not protect them from the exactions of Verres, who imposed on them an enormous
contribution both in corn and money. (Id. ib. 73--75; Ep. ad Farn. xiii. 32.)
The city appears to have subsequently declined, and had sunk in the time of Augustus
to the condition of an ordinary municipal town (Castell. Inscr. p. 27): but was
still one of the few places on the north coast of Sicily which Strabo deemed worthy
of mention. (Strab. vi. p. 272.) Pliny also enumerates it among the stipendiariae
civitates of Sicily. (H. N. iii. 8.)
Great difference of opinion has existed with regard to the site of
Alaesa, arising principally from the discrepancy in the distances assigned by
Strabo, the Itinerary, and the Tabula. Some of these are undoubtedly corrupt or
erroneous, but on the whole there can be no doubt that its situation is correctly
fixed by Cluverius and Torremuzza at the spot marked by an old church called Sta.
Maria le Palate, near the modern town of Tusa, and above the river Pettineo. This
site coincides perfectly with the expression of Diodorus (xiv. 16), that the town
was built on a hill about 8 stadia from the sea: as well as with the distance
of eighteen M. P. from Cephaloedium assigned by the Tabula. (The Itinerary gives
28 by an easy error.) The ruins described by Fazello as visible there in his time
were such as to indicate the site of a large city, and several inscriptions have
been found on the spot, some of them referring distinctly to Alaesa. One of these,
which is of considerable length and importance, gives numerous local details concerning
the divisions of land, &c., and mentions repeatedly a river Alaesus, evidently
the same with the Halesus of Columella (x. 268), and which is probably the modern
Pettineo ; as well as a fountain named Ipybrha. This is perhaps the same spoken
of by Solinus (5. § 20) and Priscian (Perieges. 500), but without mentioning its
name, as existing in the territory of Halesa, the waters of which were swoln and
agitated by the sound of music. Fazello describes the ruins as extending from
the sea-shore, on which were the remains of a large building (probably baths),
for the space of more than a mile to the summit of a hill, on which were the remains
of the citadel. About 3 miles further inland was a large fountain (probably the
Ipyrrha of the inscription), with extensive remains of the. aqueduct that conveyed
its waters to the city. All trace of these ruins has now disappeared, except some
portions of the aqueduct: but fragments of statues, as well as coins and inscriptions,
have been frequently discovered on the spot. (Fazell. de Reb. Sic. ix. 4; Cluver.
Sicil. pp. 288--290; Boeckh, C. I. tom. iii. pp. 612--621; Castelli, Hist. Alaesae,
Panorm, 1753; Id. Inscr. Sic. p. 109; Biscari, Viaggio in Sicilia, p. 243.)
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ΑΛΒΑ ΛΟΝΓΚΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΡΩΜΗ
Alba Longa (Alba: Albani), a very ancient city of Latium, situated
on the eastern side of the lake, to which it gave the name of Lacus Albanus, and
on the northern declivity of the mountain, also known as Mons Albanus. All ancient
writers agree in representing it as at one time the most powerful city in Latium,
and the head of a league or confederacy of the Latin cities, over which it exercised
a kind of supremacy or Hegemony; of many of these it was itself the parent, among
others of Rome itself. But it was destroyed at such an early period, and its history
is mixed up with so much that is fabulous and poetical, that it is almost impossible
to separate from thence the really historical elements.
According to the legendary history universally adopted by Greek and
Roman writers, Alba was founded by Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, who removed thither
the seat of government from Lavinium thirty years after the building of the latter
city (Liv. i. 3; Dion. Hal. i. 66; Strab. p. 229); and the earliest form of the
same tradition appears to have assigned a period of 300 years from its foundation
to that of Rome, or 400 years for its total duration till its destruction by Tullus
Hostilius. (Liv. i. 29; Justin. xliii. 1; Virg. Aen. i. 272; Niebuhr, vol. i.
p. 205.) The former interval was afterwards extended to 360 years in order to
square with the date assigned by Greek chronologers to the Trojan war, and the
space of time thus assumed was portioned out among the pretended kings of Alba.
There can be no doubt that the series of these kings is a clumsy forgery of a
late period; but it may probably be admitted as historical that a Silvian house
or gens was the reigning family at Alba. (Niebuhr) From this house the Romans
derived the origin of their own founder Romulus; but Rome itself was not a colony
of Alba in the strict sense of the term; nor do we find any evidence of those
mutual relations which might be expected to subsist between a metropolis or parent
city and its offspring. In fact, no mention of Alba occurs in Roman history from
the foundation of Rome till the reign of Tullus Hostilius, when the war broke
out which terminated in the defeat and submission of Alba, and its total destruction
a few years afterwards as. a punishment for the treachery of its general Metius
Fufetius. The details of this war are obviously poetical, but the destruction
of Alba may probably be received as an historical event, though there is much
reason to suppose that it was the work of the combined forces of the Latins, and
that Rome had comparatively little share in its acomplishment. (Liv. i. 29; Dion.
Hal. iii. 31; Strab. v. p. 231; Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 350, 351.) The city was never
rebuilt; its temples alone had been spared, and these appear to have been still
existing in the time of Augustus. The name, however, was retained not only by
the mountain and lake, but the valley immediately subjacent was called the Vallis
Albana, and as late as B.C. 339 we find a body of Roman troops described as encamping
sub jugo Albae Longae (Liv. vii. 39), by which we must certainly understand the
ridge on which the city stood, not the mountain above it. The whole surrounding
territory was termed the ager Albanus, whence the name of Albanum was given to
the town which in later ages grew up on the opposite side of the lake. Roman tradition
derived from Alba the origin of several of the most illustrious patrician families--the
Julii, Tullii, Servilii, Quintii, &c.--these were represented as migrating thither
after the fall of their native city. (Liv. i. 30; Tac. Ann. xi. 24.) Another tradition
appears to have described the expelled inhabitants as settling at Bovillae, whence
we find the people of that town assuming in inscriptions the title of Albani Longani
Bovillenses. (Orell. no. 119, 2252.)
But, few as are the historical events related of Alba, all authorities
concur in representing it as having been at one time the centre of the league
composed of the thirty Latin cities, and as exercising over these the same kind
of supremacy to which Rome afterwards succeeded. It was even generally admitted
that all these cities were, in fact, colonies from Alba (Liv. i. 52; Dion. Hal.
iii. 34), though many of them, as Ardea, Laurentum, Lavinium, Praeneste, Tusculum,
&c., were, according to other received traditions, more ancient than Alba itself.
There can be no doubt that this view was altogether erroneous; nor can any dependence
be placed upon the lists of the supposed Alban colonies preserved by Diodorus
(Lib. vii. ap. Euseb. Arm. p. 185), and by the author of the Origo Gentis Romanae
(c. 17), but it is possible that Virgil may have had some better authority for
ascribing to Alba the foundation of the eight cities enumerated by him, viz. Nomentum,
Gabii, Fidenae, Collatia, Pometia, Castrum Inui, Bola, and Cora. (Aen. vi. 773.)
A statement of a very different character has been preserved to us by Pliny, where
he enumerates the populi Albenses who were accustomed to share with the other
Latins in the sacrifices on the Alban Mount (iii. 5, 9). His list, after excluding
the Albani themselves, contains just thirty names; but of these only six or seven
are found among the cities that composed the Latin league in B.C. 493: six or
seven others are known to us from other sources, as among the smaller towns of
Latium1 , while all the others are wholly unknown. It is evident that we have
here a catalogue derived from a much earlier state of things, when Alba was the
head of a minor league, composed principally of places of secondary rank, which
were probably either colonies or dependencies of her own, a relation which was
afterwards erroneously transferred to that subsisting between Alba and the Latin
league. (Niebuhr, vol. i. pp. 202, 203, vol. ii. pp. 18--22; who, however, probably
goes too far in regarding these populi Albenses as mere demes or townships in
the territory of Alba.) From the expressions of Pliny it would seem clear that
this minor confederacy co-existed with a larger one including all the Latin cities;
for there can be no doubt that the common sacrifices on the Alban Mount were typical
of such a bond of union among the states that partook of them; and the fact that
the sanctuary on the Mons Albanus was the scene of these sacred rites affords
strong confirmation of the fact that Alba was really the chief city of the whole
Latin confederacy. Perhaps a still stronger proof is found in the circumstance
that the Lucus Ferentinae, immediately without the walls of Alba itself, was the
scene of their political assemblies.
If any historical meaning or value could be attached to the Trojan
legend, we should be led to connect the origin of Alba with that of Lavinium,
and to ascribe them both to a Pelasgian source. But there are certainly strong
reasons for the contrary view adopted by Niebuhr, according to which Alba and
Lavinium were essentially distinct, and even opposed to one another; the latter
being the head of the Pelasgian branch of the Latin race, while the former was
founded by the Sacrani or Casci, and became the centre and representative of the
Oscan element in the population of Latium. Its name--which was connected, according
to the Trojan legend, with the white sow discovered by Aeneas on his landing (Virg.
Aen. iii. 390, viii. 45; Serv. ad loc.; Varr. de L. L. v. 144; Propert. iv. 1.
35)--was probably, in reality, derived from its lofty or Alpine situation.
The site of Alba Longa, though described with much accuracy by ancient
writers, had been in modern times lost sight of, until it was rediscovered by
Sir W. Gell. Both Livy and Dionysius distinctly describe it as occupying a long
and narrow ridge between the mountain and the lake; from which circumstance it
derived its distinctive epithet of Longa. (Liv. i. 3; Dion. Hal. i. 66; Varr.)
Precisely such a ridge runs out from the foot of the central mountain--the Mons
Albanus, now Monte Cavo--parting from it by the convent of Palazzolo, and extending
along the eastern shore of the lake to its north-eastern extremity, nearly opposite
the village of Marino. The side of this ridge towards the lake is completely precipitous,
and has the appearance of having been artificially scarped or hewn away in its
upper part; at its northern extremity remain many blocks and fragments of massive
masonry, which must have formed part of the ancient walls: at the opposite end,
nearest to Palazzolo, is a commanding knoll forming the termination of the ridge
in that direction, which probably was the site of the Arx, or citadel. The declivity
towards the E. and NE. is less abrupt than towards the lake, but still very steep,
so that the city must have been confined, as described by ancient authors, to
the narrow summit of the ridge, and have extended more than a mile in length.
No other ruins than the fragments of the walls now remain; but an ancient road
may be distinctly traced from the knoll, now called Mte. Cuccu, along the margin
of the lake to the northern extremity of the city, where one of its gates must
have been situated. In the deep valley or ravine between the site of Alba and
Marino, is a fountain with a copious supply of water, which was undoubtedly the
Aqua Ferentina, where the confederate Latins used to hold their national assemblies;
a custom which evidently originated while Alba was the head of the league, but
continued long after its destruction. (Gell, Topogr. of Rome, p. 90; Nibby, Dintorni
di Roma, vol. i. p. 61--65; Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 199.) The territory of Alba, which
still retained the name of ager Albanus, was fertile and well cultivated, and
celebrated in particular for the excellence of its wine, which was considered
inferior only to the Falernian. (Dion. Hal. i. 66; Plin. H. N. xxiii. 1. s. 20;
Hor. Carm. iv. 11. 2, Sat. ii. 8. 16.) It produced also a kind of volcanic stone,
now called Peperino, which greatly excelled the common tufo of Rome as a building
material, and was extensively used as such under the name of lapis Albanus. The
ancient quarries may be still seen in the valley between Alba and Marino. (Vitruv.
ii. 7; Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 22. s. 48; Suet. Aug. 72; Nibby, Roma Antica, vol. i.
p. 240.)
Previous to the time of Sir W. Gell, the site of Alba Longa was generally
supposed to be occupied by the convent of Palazzolo, a situation which does not
at all correspond with the description of the site found in ancient authors, and
is too confined a space to have ever afforded room for an ancient city. Niebuhr
is certainly in error where he speaks of the modern village of Rocca di Papa as
having been the arx of Alba Longa (vol. i. p. 200), that spot being far too distant
to have ever had any immediate connection with the ancient city.
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ΑΝΚΟΝΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΑΡΚΕ
Ancona or Ancon (AnkoW: Eth. Ankonios, and Ankonites, Steph. B., Anconitanus:
the form Ancon in Latin is chiefly poetical; but, according to Orelli, Cicero
uses Anconem for the ace. case), an important city of Picenum on the Adriatic
sea, still called Ancona. It was situated on a promontory which forms a remarkable
curve or elbow, so as to protect, and almost enclose its port, from which circumstance
it derived its Greek name of Ankon, the elbow. (Strab. v. p. 241; Mela, ii. 4;
Procop. B. G. ii. 13. p. 197.) Pliny, indeed, appears to regard it as named from
its position at the angle or elbow formed by the coast line at this point (in
ipso flectentis se orae cubito, iii. 13. s. 18), but this is probably erroneous.
The promontory on which the city itself is situated, is connected with a more
lofty mountain mass forming a bold headland, the Cumerus of Pliny, still known
as Monte Comero. Ancona was the only Greek colony on this part of the coast of
Italy, having been founded about 380 B.C. by Syracusan exiles, who fled hither
to avoid the tyranny of the elder Dionysius. (Strab.) Hence it is called Dorica
Ancon by Juvenal (iv. 40), and is mentioned by Scylax (§ 17, p. 6), who notices
only Greek cities. We have no account of its existence at an earlier period, for
though Pliny refers its foundation to the Siculi (see also Solin. 2. § 10), this
is probably a mere misconception of the fact that it was a colony from Sicily.
We learn nothing of its early history: but it appears to have rapidly risen into
a place of importance, owing to the excellence of its port (the only natural harbour
along this line of coast) and the great fertility of the adjoining country. (Strab.
l. c.; Plin. xiv. 6.) It was noted also for its purple dye, which, according to
Silius Italicus (viii. 438), was not inferior to those of Phoenicia or Africa.
The period at which it became subject to the Romans is uncertain, but it probably
followed the fate of the rest of Picenum: in B.C. 178 we find them making use
of it as a naval station against the Illyrians and Istrians. (Liv. xli. 1.) On
the outbreak of the Civil War it was occupied by Caesar as a place of importance,
immediately after he had passed the Rubicon; and we find it in later times serving
as the principal port for communication with the opposite coast of Dalmatia. (Caes.
B.C. i. 11; Cic. ad Att. vii. 1. 1, ad Farn. xvi. 12; Tac. Ann. iii. 9.) As early
as the time of C. Gracchus a part of its territory appears to have been assigned
to Roman colonists; and subsequently Antony established there two legions of veterans
which had served under J. Caesar. It probably first acquired at this time the
rank of a Roman colony, which we find it enjoying in the time of Pliny, and which
is commemorated in several extant inscriptions. (App. B.C. v. 23; Lib. Colon.
pp. 225, 227, 253; Gruter, pp. 451. 3, 465. 6; Zumpt, de Colon. p. 333.) It received
great benefits from Trajan, who improved its port by the construction of a new
mole, which still remains in good preservation. On it was erected, in honour of
the emperor, a triumphal arch, built entirely of white marble, which, both from
its perfect preservation and the lightness and elegance of its architecture, is
generally regarded as one of the most beautiful monuments of its class remaining
in Italy. Some remains of an amphitheatre may also be traced; and numerous inscriptions
attest the flourishing condition of Ancona under the Roman Empire. The temple
of Venus, celebrated both by Juvenal and Catullus (Juv. iv. 40; Catull. xxxvi.
13), has altogether disappeared; but it in all probability occupied the same site
as the modern cathedral, on the summit of the lofty hill that commands the whole
city and constitutes the remarkable headland from which it derives its name.
We find Ancona playing an important part during the contests of Belisarius
and Narses with the Goths in Italy. (Procop. B. G. ii. 11, 13, iii. 30, iv. 23.)
It afterwards became one of the chief cities of the Exarchate of Ravenna, and
continued throughout the Middle Ages, as it does at the present day, to be one
of the most flourishing and commercial cities of central Italy.
The annexed coin of .Ancona belongs to the period of the Greek colony:
it bears on the obverse the head of Venus, the tutelary deity of the city, on
the reverse a bent arm or elbow, in allusion to its name.
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ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΙΚΕΛΙΑ
Apollonia (Apollonia: Eth. Apolloniates, Apolloniates, Apollinas,--atis,
Apolloniensis), in Europe. A city of Sicily, which, according to Steph. Byz.,was
situated in the neighbourhood of Aluntium Calacte. Cicero also mentions it (Or.
in Verr. iii. 43) and in conjunction with Haluntium, Capitium, and Enguium, in
a manner that seems to imply that it was situated in the same part of Sicily with
these cities; and we learn from Diodorus (xvi. 72) that it was at one time subject
to Leptines, the tyrant of Enguium, from whose hands it was wrested by Timoleon,
and restored to an independent condition. A little later we find it again mentioned
among the cities reduced by Agathocles, after his return from Africa, B.C. 307
(Diod. xx. 56). But it evidently regained its liberty after the fall of the tyrant,
and in the days of Cicero was still a municipal town of some importance. (Or.
in Verr. iii. 43, v. 33.) From this time it disappears from history, and the name
is not found either in Pliny or Ptolemy.
Its site has been much disputed; but the passages above cited point
distinctly to a position in the north-eastern part of Sicily; and it is probable
that the modern Pollina, a small town on a hill, about 3 miles from the sea-coast,
and 8 or 9 E. from Cefalu, occupies its site. The resemblance of name is certainly
entitled to: much weight; and if Enguium be correctly placed at Gangi, the connexion
between that city and Apollonia is easily explained. It must be admitted that
the words of Stephanus require, in this case, to be construed with considerable
latitude, but little dependence can be placed upon the accuracy of that writer.
The coins which have been published as of this city belong either
to Apollonia, in Illyria, or to Tauromenium (Eckhel, vol. i. p. 198.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΡΔΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
Ardea (Ardea: Eth., Ardeates, Ardeas, atis), a very ancient city of
Latium, still called Ardea, situated on a small river about 4 miles from the seacoast,
and 24 miles S. of Rome. Pliny and Mela reckon it among the maritime cities of
Latium: Strabo and Ptolemy more correctly place it inland, but the former greatly
overstates its distance from the sea at 70 stadia. (Plin. iii. 5. s. 9; Mela,
ii. 4; Strab. v. p. 232; Ptol. iii. 1. § 61.) All ancient writers agree in representing
it as a city of great tiquity, and in very early times one of the most wealthy
and powerful in this part of Italy. Its foundation was ascribed by some writers
to a son of Ulysses and Circe (Xenag. ap. Dion. Hal. i. 72; Steph. B. v. Ardea);
but the more common tradition, followed by Virgil as well as by Pliny and Solinus,
represented it as founded by Danae, the mother of Perseus. Both accounts may be
considered as pointing to a Pelasgic origin; and Niebuhr regards it as the capital
or chief city of the Pelasgian portion of the Latin nation, and considers the
name of its king Turnus as connected with that of the Tyrrhenians. (Virg. Aen.
vii. 410; Plin. I. c.; Solin. 2. § 5; Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 44, vol. ii. p. 21.)
It appears in the legendary history of Aeneas as the capital of the Rutuli, a
people who had disappeared or become absorbed into the Latin nation before the
commencement of the historical period; but their king Turnus is represented as
dependent on Latinus, though holding a separate sovereignty. The tradition mentioned
by Livy (xxi. 7), that the Ardeans had united with the Zacynthians in the foundation
of Saguntum in Spain, also points to the early power and prosperity ascribed to
the city. In the historical period Ardea had become a purely Latin city, and its
name appears among the thirty which constituted the Latin League. (Dion. Hal.
v. 61.) According to the received history of Rome, it was besieged by Tarquinius
Superbus, and it was during this longprotracted siege that the events occurred
which led to the expulsion of this monarch. (Liv. i. 57-60; Dion. Hal. iv. 64.)
But though we are told that, in consequence of that revolution, a truce for 15
years was concluded, and Ardea was not taken, yet it appears immediately afterwards
in the first treaty with Carthage, as one of the cities then subject to Rome.
(Pol. iii. 22.) It is equally remarkable that though the Roman historians speak
in high terms of the wealth and prosperity it then enjoyed (Liv. i. 57), it seems
to have from this time sunk into comparative insignificance, and never appears
in history as taking a prominent part among the cities of Latiumn. The next mention
we find of it is on occasion of a dispute with Aricia for possession of the vacant
territory of Corioli, which was referred by the consent of the two cities to the
arbitration of the Romans, who iniquitously pronounced the disputed lands to belong
to themselves. (Liv. iii. 71, 72.) Notwithstanding this injury, the Ardeates were
induced to renew their friendship and alliance with Rome: and, shortly after,
their city being agitated by internal dissensions between the nobles and plebeians,
the former called in the assistance of the Romans, with whose aid they overcame
the popular party and their Volscian allies. But these troubles and the expulsion
of a large number of the defeated party had reduced Ardea to a low condition,
and it was content to receive a Roman colony for its protection against the Volscians,
B.C. 442. (Liv. iv. 7, 9, 11; Diod. xii. 34.) In the legendary history of Camillus
Ardea plays an important part: it afforded him an asylum in his exile; and the
Ardeates are represented as contributing greatly to the very apocryphal victories
by which the Romans are said to have avenged themselves on the Gauls. (Liv. v.
44, 48; Plut. Camill. 23, 24.)
From this time Ardea disappears from history as an independent city;
and no mention of it is found on occasion of the great final struggle of the Latins
against Rome in B.C. 340. It appears to have gradually lapsed into the condition
of an ordinary Colonia Latina, and was one of the twelve which in B.C. 209 declared
themselves unable to bear any longer their share of the burthens cast on them
by the Second Punic War. (Liv. xxvii. 9.) We may hence presume that it was then
already in a declining state; though on account of the strength of its position,
we find it selected in B.C. 186 as the place of confinement of Minius Cerrinius,
one of the chief persons implicated in the Bacchanalian mysteries. (Liv. xxxix.
19.) It afterwards suffered severely, in common with the other cities of this
part of Latium, P from the ravages of the Samnites during the civil wars between
Marius and Sulla: and Strabo speaks of it in his time as a poor decayed place.
Virgil also tells us that there remained of Ardea only a great name, but its fortune
was past away. (Strab. v. p. 232; Virg. Aen. vii. 413; Sil. Ital. i. 291.) The
unhealthiness of its situation and neighbourhood, noticed by Strabo and various
other writers (Strab. p. 231; Seneca, Ep. 105; Martial, iv. 60), doubtless contributed
to its decay: and Juvenal tells us that in his time the tame elephants belonging
to the emperor were kept in the territory of Ardea (xii. 105); a proof that it
must have been then, as at the present day, in great part uncultivated. We find
mention of a redistribution of its ager by Hadrian (Lib. Colon. p. 231), which
would indicate an attempt at its revival, - but the effort seems to have been
unsuccessful: no further mention of it occurs in history, and the absence of almost
all inscriptions of imperial date confirms the fact that it had sunk into insignificance.
It probably, however, never ceased to exist, as it retained its name unaltered,
and a castellum Ardeae is mentioned early in the middle ages, - probably, like
the modern town, occupying the ancient citadel. (Nibby, vol. i. p. 231.)
The modern village of Ardea (a poor place with only 176 inhabitants,
and a great castellated mansion belonging to the Dukes of Caearini) occupies the
level surface of a hill at the confluence of two narrow valleys: this, which evidently
constituted the ancient Arx or citadel, is joined by a narrow neck to a much broader
and more extensive plateau, on which stood the ancient city. No vestiges of this
exist (though the site is still called by the peasants Civita Vecchia); but on
the NE., where it is again joined to the table-land beyond, by a narrow isthmus,
is a vast mound or Agger, extending across from valley to valley, and traversed
by a gateway in its centre; while about half a mile further is another similar
mound of equal dimensions. These ramparts were probably the only regular fortifications
of the city itself; the precipitous banks of tufo rock towards the valleys on
each side needing no additional defence. The citadel was fortified on the side
towards the city by a double fosse or ditch, hewn in the rock, as well as by massive
walls, large portions of which are still preserved, as well as of those which
crowned the crest of the cliffs towards the valleys. They are built of irregular
square blocks of tufo: but some portions appear to have been rebuilt in later
times. (Gell, Top. of Rome, pp. 97-100; Nibby, Dintorni di Roma, vol. i. pp. 233-240.)
There exist no other remains of any importance: nor can the sites be traced of
the ancient temples, which continued to be objects of veneration to the Romans
when Ardea had already fallen into decay. Among these Pliny particularly mentions
a temple of Juno, which was adorned with ancient paintings of great merit; for
the execution of which the painter (a Greek artist) was rewarded with the freedom
of the city. 1 In another passage he speaks of paintings in temples at Ardea (probably
different from the above), which were believed to be more ancient than the foundation
of Rome. (Plin. xxxv. 3. s. 6, 10. s. 37.) Besides these temples in the city itself,
Strabo tells us that there was in the neighbourhood a temple of Venus (Aphrodision),
where the Latins annually assembled for a great festival This is evidently the
spot mentioned by Pliny and Mela in a manner that would have led us to suppose
it a town of the name of Aphrodisium; its exact site is unknown, but it appears
to have been between Ardea and Antium, and not far from the sea-coast. (Strab.
v. p. 232; Plin. iii. 5, 9; Mela, ii. 4.)
The Via Ardeatina which led direct from Rome to Ardea, is mentioned
in the Curiosum Urbis (p. 28, ed. Preller) among the roads which issued from the
gates of Rome, as well as by Festus (v. Retricibus, p. 282, M.; Inser. ap. Grutesr,
p. 1139. 12). It quitted the Via Appia at a short distance from Rome, and passed
by the farms now called Tor Narancia, Cicchignola, and Tog di Nona (so called
from its position at the ninth mile from Rome) to the Solfarata, 15 R. miles from
the city: a spot where there is a pool of cold sulphureous water, partly surrounded
by a rocky ridge. There is no doubt that this is the source mentioned by Vitruvius
(Fons in Ardeatino, viii. 3) as analogous to the Aquae Albulae; and it is highly
probable that it is the site also of the Oracle of Faunus, so picturesquely described
by Virgil (Aen. vii. 81). This has been transferred by many writers to the source
of the Albula, but the locality in question agrees much better with the description
in Virgil, though it has lost much of its gloomy character, since the wood has
been cleared away; and there is no reason why Albunea may not have had a shrine
here as well as at Tibur. (See Gell. l. c. p. 102; Nibby, vol. ii. p. 102.) From
the Solfarata to Ardea the ancient road coincides with the modern one: at the
church of Sta Procula, 4 1/2 miles from Ardea, it crosses the Rio Torto, probably
the ancient Numicius. No ancient name is preserved for the stream which flows
by Ardea itself, now called the Fosso della Incastro. The actual distance from
Rome to Ardea by this road is nearly 24 miles; it is erroneously stated by Strabo
at 160 stadia (20 R. miles), while Eutropius (i. 8) calls it only 18 miles.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΡΙΜΙΝΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΕΜΙΛΙΑ ΡΟΜΑΝΑ
Ariminum (Ariminon: Eth. Ariminensis: Rimini), one of the most important
and celebrated cities of Umbria, situated on the coast of the Adriatic, close
to the mouth of the river Ariminus, from which it derived its name (Fest. S. V.),
and only about 9 miles S. of the Rubicon which formed the boundary of Cisalpine
Gaul. Strabo tells us that it was originally an Umbrian city (v. p. 217.): it
must have passed into the hands of the Senonian Gauls during the time that they
possessed the whole of this tract between the Apennines and the sea: but we have
no mention of its name in history previous to the year B.C. 268, when the Romans,
who had expelled the Senones from all this part of Italy, established a colony
at Ariminum. (Liv. Epit. xv.; Eutrop. ii. 16; Vell. Pat. i. 14; Strab.) The position
of this new settlement, close to the extreme verge of Italy towards Cisalpine
Gaul, and just at the point where the last slopes of the Apennines descend to
the Adriatic and bound the great plains which extend from thence without interruption
to the Alps, rendered it a military post of the highest importance, and it was
justly considered as the key of Cisalpine Gaul on the one side, and of the eastern
coast of Italy on the other. (Strab. v. p. 226; Pol. iii. 61.) At the same time
its port at the mouth of the river maintained its communications by sea with the
S. of Italy, and at a later period with the countries on the opposite side of
the Adriatic.
The importance of Ariminum was still further increased by the opening
in B.C. 221 of the Via Flaminia which led from thence direct to Rome, and subsequently
of the Via Aemilia (B.C. 187) which established a direct communication with Placentia.
(Liv. Epit. xx. xxxix. 2.) Hence we find Ariminum repeatedly playing an important
part in Roman history. As early as B.C. 225 it was occupied by a Roman army during
the Gaulish war: in B.C. 218 it was the place upon which Sempronius directed his
legions in order to oppose Hannibal in Cisalpine Gaul; and throughout the Second
Punic War it was one of the points to which the Romans attached the greatest strategic
importance, and which they rarely failed to guard with a considerable army. (Pol.
ii. 23, iii. 61, 77; Liv. xxi. 51, xxiv. 44.) It is again mentioned as holding
a similar place during the Gallic war in B.C. 200, as well as in the civil wars
of Sulla and Marius, on which occasion it suffeared severely, for, having been
occupied by Carbo, it was vindictively plundered by Sulla. (Liv. xxxi. 10, 21;
Appian. B.C. i. 67, 87, 91; Cic. Verr. i. 1. 4) On the outbreak of hostilities
between Caesar and Pompey, it was the first object of the former to make himself
master of Ariminum, from whence he directed his subsequent operations both against
Etruria and Picenum. (Caes. B.C. i. 8, 11; Plut. Caes. 32; Cic. ad Farn. xvi.
1. 2; Appian. B.C. ii. 35.) So also we find it conspicuous during the wars of
Antonius and Octavius (Appian. B.C. iii. 46, v. 33); in the civil war between
Vitellius and Vespasian (Tan. Hist. iii. 41, 42); and again at a much later period
in the contest between Belisarius and the Goths. (Procop. B. G. ii. 10, 17, iii.
37, iv. 28.)
Nor was it only in a military point of view that Ariminum was of importance.
It seems to have been from the first a flourishing colony: and was one of the
eighteen which in B.C. 209, notwithstanding the severe pressure of the Second
Punic War, was still able to furnish its quota of men and money. (Liv. xxvii.
10.) It was indeed for a time reduced to a state of inferiority by Sulla, as a
punishment for the support it had afforded to his enemies. (Cic.pro Caec. 35:
for the various explanations which have been given of this much disputed passage
see Savigny, Vermischte Schriften, vol. i. p. 18, &c. and Marquardt, Handbuch
der Rom. Alterthiumer, vol. iii. p. 39--41.) But notwithstanding this, and the
heavy calamity which it had previously suffered at his hands, it appears to have
quickly revived, and is mentioned in B.C. 43 as one of the richest and most flourishing
cities of Italy. (Appian, B.C. iv. 3.) At that period its lands were portioned
out among the soldiers of the Triumvirs: but Augustus afterwards atoned for this
injustice by adorning it with many splendid public works, some of which are still
extant: and though we hear but little of it during the Roman empire, its continued
importance throughout that period, as well as its colonial rank, is attested by
innumerable inscriptions. (Orell. Inscr. 80, 3049, 3174, &c.; Plin. iii. 15. s.
20.) After the fall of the Western Empire it became one of the cities of the Pentapolis,
which continued subject to the Exarchs of Ravenna until the invasion of the Lombards
at the close of the 6th century.
Pliny tells us that Ariminum was situated between the two rivers Ariminius
and Aprusa. The former, at the mouth of which was situated the port of Ariminum
(Strab. v. p. 217) is now called the Marecchia, and flows under the walls of the
town on the N. side. The Aprusa is probably the trifling stream now called Ausa,
immediately S. of Rimini. In the new division of Italy under Augustus the limits
of the 8th region (Gallia Cispadana) were extended as far as the Ariminus, but
the city Ariminum seems to have been also included in it, though situated on the
S. side of that river. (Plin. l. c.; Ptol. iii. 1. § 22.) The modern city of Rimini
still retains two striking monuments of its ancient grandeur. The first is the
Roman bridge of five arches over the Ariminus by which the town is approached
on the N.: this is built entirely of marble and in the best style of architecture:
it was erected, as we learn from the inscription still remaining on it, by Augustus,
but completed by Tiberius: and is still, both from its perfect preservation and
the beauty of its construction, the most striking monument of its class which
remains in Italy. On the opposite side of the town the gate leading to Pesaro
is a triumphal arch, erected in honour of Augustus: it is built like the bridge,
of white marble, of the Corinthian order, and in a very pure style of architecture,
though partially disfigured by some later additions. (Eustace, Classical Tour,
vol. i. pp. 281, 282; Rampoldi, Diz. Corogr. vol. iii. p. 594. The inscriptions
are given by Muratori, p. 2006; and Orelli, 604.) A kind of pedestal in the centre
of the town, with a spurious inscription, pretends to be the Suggestum from which
Caesar harangued his troops at Ariminum, after the passage of the Rubicon.
The coins of Ariminum which bear the Latin legend Arim belong to the
period of the Roman colony.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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