Chaps. 15-17.

Chap. 15. (10.)—Magna Græcia, Beginning at Locri.

At Locri begins the fore-part of Italy, called Magna Græcia, whose coast falls back in three bays [These are the Gulf of Locri, the Gulf of Scyllacium, and the Gulf of Tarentum.] formed by the Ausonian sea, so called from the Ausones, who were the first inhabitants of the country. According to Varro it is 86 miles in extent; but most writers have made it only 75. Along this coast there are rivers innumerable, but we shall mention those only that are worthy of remark. After leaving Locri we come to the Sagra [Now called the Sagriano, though some make it to be the modern Alaro. The site of the town of Caulon does not appear to be known: it is by some placed at Castel Vetere on the Alaro.], and the ruins of the town of Caulon, Mystiæ [Said by Hardouin to be the modern Monasteraci or Monte Araci.], Consilinum Castrum [Supposed to have been situate on a hill near the modern Padula.], Cocinthum [The modern Punta di Stilo, or “Point of the Column.”], in the opinion of some, the longest headland of Italy, and then the Gulf of Scylacium [The modern Gulf of Squillace.], and Scylacium [Now Squillace.] itself, which was called by the Athenians, when they founded it, Scylletium. This part of Italy is nearly a peninsula, in consequence of the Gulf of Terinæum [Now the Gulf of Saint Eufemia.] running up into it on the other side; in it there is a harbour called Castra Hannibalis [“Hannibal’s Camp.” This was the seaport of Scyllacium, and its site was probably near the mouth of the river Corace.]: in no part is Italy narrower than here, it being but twenty miles across. For this reason the Elder Dionysius entertained the idea of severing [According to Strabo, B. vi., he intended to erect a high wall across, and so divide it from the rest of Italy; but if we may judge, from the use by Pliny of the word “intercisam,” it would seem that it was his design to cut a canal across this neck of land.] this portion from the main-land of Italy at this spot, and adding it to Sicily. The navigable rivers in this district are the Carcines [According to Hardouin, the Carcines is the present river Corace, the Crotalus the Alli, the Semirus the Simari, the Arocas the Crocchio, and the Targines the Tacina.], the Crotalus, the Semirus, the Arocas, and the Targines. In the interior is the town of Petilia [The present Strongolo, according to D’Anville and Mannert.], and there are besides, Mount Clibanus [The present Monte Monacello and Monte Fuscaldo are supposed to form part of the range called Clibanus.], the promontory of Lacinium, in front of which lies the island of Dioscoron [Meaning that it was sacred to Castor and Pollux. Such are the changes effected by lapse of time that these two islands are now only bleak rocks. The present locality of the other islands does not appear to be known.], ten miles from the main-land, and another called the Isle of Calypso, which Homer is supposed to refer to under the name of Ogygia; as also the islands of Tiris, Eranusa, and Meloessa. According to Agrippa, the promontory of Lacinium [Now Capo di Colonne.] is seventy miles from Caulon.

(11.) At the promontory of Lacinium begins the second Gulf of Europe, the bend of which forms an arc of great depth, and terminates at Acroceraunium, a promontory of Epirus, from which it is distant [The real distance from Acroceraunium, now Capo Linguetta, is 153 miles, according to Ansart.] seventy-five miles. We first come to the town of Croton [Or Crotona, one of the most famous Greek cities in the south of Italy. No ruins of the ancient city, said by Livy to have been twelve miles in circumference, are now remaining. The modern Cotrone occupies a part of its site. Pythagoras taught at this place.], and then the river Neæthus [The modern Neto.], and the town of Thurii [Now called Turi, between the rivers Crati and Sibari or Roscile.], situate between the two rivers Crathis and Sybaris, upon the latter of which there was once a city [A Greek town, famous for the inordinate love of luxury displayed by its inhabitants, whence a voluptuary obtained the name of a “Sybarite.” It was destroyed by the people of Crotona, who turned the waters of the Crathis upon the town. Its site is now occupied by a pestilential swamp.] of the same name. In a similar manner Heraclia [A famous Greek city founded on the territory of the former Ionian colony of Siris. The foundations of it may still be seen, it is supposed, near a spot called Policoro, three miles from the sea. The rivers are now called the Sinno and the Agri.], sometimes called Siris, lies between the river of that name and the Aciris. We next come to the rivers Acalandrus and Casuentum [The modern Salandra or Salandrella, and the Basiento.], and the town of Metapontum [So called from its lying between the two seas. It was once a celebrated Greek city, but was in ruins in the time of Pausanias. The place called Torre di Mare now occupies its site.], with which the third region of Italy terminates. In the interior of Bruttium, the Aprustani [The site of Aprustum is supposed to be marked by the village of Argusto, near Chiaravalle, about five miles from the Gulf of Squillace. Atina was situate in the valley of the Tanager, now the Valle di Diano. The ruins of Atina, which are very extensive, are to be seen near the village of Atena. Livy and Acron speak of Bantia as in Apulia, and not in Lucania. An ancient abbey, Santa Maria di Vanze, still marks its site.] are the only people; but in Lucania we find the Atinates, the Bantini, the Eburini [The ruins of Eburi are supposed to be those between the modern Eboli and the right bank of the Silarus. The remains of Grumentum, a place of some importance, are still to be seen on the river Agri, half a mile from the modern Saponara. Potenza occupies the site of ancient Potentia.], the Grumentini, the Potentini, the Sontini [The Sontini were probably situate on the river Sontia, now the Sanza, near Policastro. The Sirini probably had their name from the river Siris.], the Sirini, the Tergilani, the Ursentini, and the Volcentani [Volcentum was situate near the Silarus, probably on the spot now called Bulcino or Bucino. The site of Numistro appears to be unknown.], whom the Numestrani join. Besides these, we learn from Cato [In his work “De Originibus.”] that Thebes in Lucania has disappeared, and Theopompus informs us that there was formerly a city of the Lucani called Pandosia [Livy, B. viii., and Justin mention how that Alexander I. (in the year B.C. 326) was obliged to engage under unfavourable circumstances near Pandosia, on the Acheron, and fell as he was crossing the river; thus accomplishing a prophecy of Dodona which had warned him to beware of Pandosia and the Acheron. He was uncle to Alexander the Great, being the brother of Olympias. The site of Pandosia is supposed to have been the modern Castro Franco.], at which Alexander, the king of Epirus, died.

Chap. 16.—The Second Region of Italy.

Adjoining to this district is the second region of Italy, which embraces the Hirpini, Calabria, Apulia, and the Salentini, extending a distance of 250 miles along the Gulf of Tarentum, which receives its name from a town of the Laconians so called, situate at the bottom of the Gulf, to which was annexed the maritime colony which had previously settled there. Tarentum [This word is understood in the text, and Ansart would have it to mean that the “Gulf of Tarentum is distant,” &c., but, as he says, such an assertion would be very indefinite, it not being stated what part of the Gulf is meant. He therefore suggests that the most distant point from Lacinium is meant; which however, according to him, would make but 117 miles straight across, and 160 by land. The city of Tarentum would be the most distant point.] is distant from the promontory of Lacinium 136 miles, and throws out the territory of Calabria opposite to it in the form of a peninsula. The Greeks called this territory Messapia, from their leader [Messapus, a Bœotian, mentioned by Strabo, B. ix.]; before which it was called Peucetia, from Peucetius [A son of Lycaon.], the brother of Œnotrius, and was comprised in the territory of Salentinum. Between the two promontories [Of Lacinium and Acra Iapygia. About seventy miles seems to be the real distance; certainly not, as Pliny says, 100.] there is a distance of 100 miles. The breadth across the peninsula from Tarentum [The modern Taranto to Brindisi.] to Brundusium by land is 35 miles, considerably less if measured from the port of Sasina [Probably situate at the further extremity of the bay on which Tarentum stood.]. The towns inland from Tarentum are Varia [According to D’Anville and Mannert, the modern Oria. Messapia is the modern Mesagna.] surnamed Apulia, Messapia, and Aletium [The modern Santa Maria dell’ Alizza, according to D’Anville.]; on the coast, Senum, and Callipolis [The modern Gallipoli, in the Terra di Otranto. The real distance from Tarentum is between fifty and sixty miles.], now known as Anxa, 75 miles from Tarentum. Thence, at a distance of 32 miles, is the Promontory of Acra Iapygia [The “Iapygian Point,” the present Capo di Santa Maria di Leuca.], at which point Italy projects the greatest distance into the sea. At a distance of 19 miles from this point is the town of Basta [Its site is occupied by the little village of Vaste near Poggiordo, ten miles S.W. of Otranto. In the sixteenth century considerable remains of Basta were still to be seen.], and then Hydruntum [The modern Otranto stands on its site. In the fourth century it became the usual place of passage from Italy to Greece, Apollonia, and Dyrrhachium. Few vestiges of the ancient city are now to be seen.], the spot at which the Ionian is separated from the Adriatic sea, and from which the distance across to Greece is the shortest. The town of the Apolloniates [Anciently Apollonia, in Illyria, now called Pallina or Pollona.] lies opposite to it, and the breadth of the arm of the sea which runs between is not more than fifty miles. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, was the first who entertained the notion of uniting these two points and making a passage on foot, by throwing a bridge across, and after him M. Varro [This was M. Terentius Varro, called “the most learned of the Romans.” His design, here mentioned, seems however to have evinced neither learning nor discretion.], when commanding the fleet of Pompey in the war against the Pirates. Other cares however prevented either of them from accomplishing this design. Passing Hydruntum, we come to the deserted site of Soletum [Now called Soleto. The ruins of the ancient city, described by Galateo as existing at Muro, are not improbably those of Fratuertium, or, perhaps more rightly, Fratuentum.], then Fratuertium, the Portus Tarentinus, the haven of Miltopa, Lupia [The modern Lecce is supposed to occupy its site.], Balesium [Called Valetium by Mela. Its ruins are still to be seen near San Pietro Vernotico, on the road from Brindisi to Lecce. The site is still called Baleso or Valesio.], Cælia [Ansart takes this to be the modern village of Cavallo, on the promontory of that name; but it is more probably the modern Ceglie, situate on a hill about twelve miles from the Adriatic, and twenty-seven miles west of Brindisi. Extensive ruins still exist there. There was another town of the same name in the south of Apulia.], and then Brundusium [Now Brindisi. Virgil died here. The modern city, which is an impoverished place, presents but few vestiges of antiquity. The distance to Dyrrhachium is in reality only about 100 miles.], fifty miles from Hydruntum. This last place is one of the most famous ports of Italy, and, although more distant, affords by far the safest passage across to Greece, the place of disembarkation being Dyrrachium, a city of Illyria; the distance across is 225 miles.

Adjoining Brundusium is the territory of the Pediculi [They occupied probably a portion of the modern Terra di Bari.]; nine youths and as many maidens, natives of Illyria, became the parents of sixteen nations. The towns of the Pediculi are Rudiæ [Said by Hardouin to be the modern Carouigna or Carovigni; but Mannert asserts it to be the same as the modern Ruvo.], Egnatia [Or Gnatia, called by Strabo and Ptolemy a city of Apulia. It was probably the last town of the Peucetians towards the frontiers of Calabria. Horace, in the account of his journey to Brundusium (I. Sat. i. 97-100), makes it his last halting-place, and ridicules a pretended miracle shown by the inhabitants, who asserted that incense placed on a certain altar was consumed without fire being applied. The same story is referred to by Pliny, B. ii. c., where he incorrectly makes Egnatia a town of the Salentini. Its ruins are visible on the sea-coast, about six miles S.E. of Monopali, and an old town still bears the name of Torre d’Agnazzo.], and Barium [Now Bari, a considerable city. In the time of Horace it was only a fishing town. It probably had a considerable intercourse with Greece, if we may judge from the remains of art found here.]; their rivers are the Iapyx (so called from the son of Dædalus, who was king there, and who gave it the name of Iapygia), the Pactius [It is difficult to identify these rivers, from the number of small torrents between Brindisi and the Ofanto or Aufidus. According to Mannert, the Pactius is the present Canale di Terzo.], and the Aufidus, which rises in the Hirpinian mountains and flows past Canusium [An important city of Apulia, said to have been founded by Diomedes. Horace alludes to its deficiency of water. The modern Canosa is built on probably the site of the citadel of the ancient city, the ruins of which are very extensive.].

At this point begins Apulia, surnamed the Daunian, from the Daunii, who take their name from a former chief, the father-in-law of Diomedes. In this territory are the towns of Salapia [The ruins of this place are still to be seen at some little distance from the coast, near the village of Salpi. The story about Hannibal was very probably of Roman invention, for Justin and Frontinus speak in praise of his continence and temperance. Appian however gives some further particulars of this alleged amour.], famous for Hannibal’s amour with a courtezan, Sipontum [The present Manfredonia has arisen from the decay of this town, in consequence of the unhealthiness of the locality. Ancient Uria is supposed to have occupied the site of Manfredonia, and the village of Santa Maria di Siponto stands where Siponti stood.], Uria, the river Cerbalus [Probably the Cervaro. Hardouin says the Candelaro.], forming the boundary of the Daunii, the port of Agasus [The present Porto Greco occupies its site.], and the Promontory of Mount Garganus [Still known as Gargano.], distant from the Promontory of Salentinum or Iapygia 234 miles. Making the circuit of Garganus, we come to the port of Garna [Probably the present Varano.], the Lake Pantanus [Now Lago di Lesina. The Frento is now called the Fortore.], the river Frento, the mouth of which forms a harbour, Teanum of the Apuli [To distinguish it from Teanum of the Sidicini, previously mentioned.], and Larinum, Cliternia [Between the Tifernus and the Frento. Its remains are said to be still visible at Licchiano, five miles from San Martino. The Tifernus is now called the Biferno.], and the river Tifernus, at which the district of the Frentani [A people of Central Italy, occupying the tract on the east coast of the peninsula, from the Apennines to the Adriatic, and from the frontiers of Apulia to those of the Marrucini.] begins. Thus there were three different nations of the Apulians, [the Daunii,] the Teani, so called from their leader, and who sprang from the Greeks, and the Lucani, who were subdued by Calchas [Strabo (B. vi.) refers to this tradition, where he mentions the oracle of Calchas, the soothsayer, in Daunia in Southern Italy. Here answers were given in dreams, for those who consulted the oracle had to sacrifice a black ram, and slept a night in the temple, lying on the skin of the victim.], and whose country is now possessed by the Atinates. Besides those already mentioned, there are, of the Daunii, the colonies of Luceria [The modern Lucera in the Capitanata.] and Venusia [The birth-place of Horace; now Venosa in the Basilicata.], the towns of Canusium [The modern Canosa stands on the site of the citadel of ancient Canusium, an Apulian city of great importance. The remains of the ancient city are very considerable.] and Arpi, formerly called Argos Hippium [So called, it was said, in remembrance of Argos, the native city of Diomedes. It was an Apulian city of considerable importance. Some slight traces of it are still to be seen at a spot which retains the name of Arpa, five miles from the city of Foggia.] and founded by Diomedes, afterwards called Argyrippa. Here too Diomedes destroyed the nations of the Monadi and the Dardi, and the two cities of Apina and Trica [The names of these two defunct cities were used by the Romans to signify anything frivolous and unsubstantial; just as we speak of “castles in the air,” which the French call “châteaux en Espagne.”], whose names have passed into a by-word and a proverb.

Besides the above, there is in the interior of the second region one colony of the Hirpini, Beneventum [Livy and Ptolemy assign this place to Samnium Proper, as distinguished from the Hirpini. It was a very ancient city of the Samnites, but in the year B.C. 268, a Roman colony was settled there, on which occasion, prompted by superstitious feelings, the Romans changed its name Maleventum, which in their language would mean “badly come,” to Beneventum or “well come.” The modern city of Benevento still retains numerous traces of its ancient grandeur, among others a triumphal arch, erected A.D. 114 in honour of the emperor Trajan.], so called by an exchange of a more auspicious name for its old one of Maleventum; also the Æculani [The remains of Æculanum are to be seen at Le Grotte, one mile from Mirabella. The ruins are very extensive.], the Aquilonii [There were probably two places called Aquilonia in Italy; the remains of the present one are those probably to be seen at La Cedogna. That mentioned by Livy, B. x. c. 38-43, was probably a different place.], the Abellinates surnamed Protropi, the Compsani, the Caudini, the Ligures, both those called the Corneliani and Bebiani, the Vescellani, the Æclani, the Aletrini, the Abellinates [These are supposed by some to be the people of Abellinum mentioned in the first region of Italy. Nothing however is known of these or of the Abellinates Marsi, mentioned below.] surnamed Marsi, the Atrani, the Æcani [Æcæ is supposed to have been situate about nineteen miles from Herdonia, and to have been on the site of the modern city of Troja, an episcopal see. The Compsani were the people of Compsa, the modern Conza; and the Caudini were the inhabitants of Caudium, near which were the Fauces Caudinæ or “Caudine Forks,” where the Roman army was captured by the Samnites. The site of this city was probably between the modern Arpaja and Monte Sarchio; and the defeat is thought to have taken place in the narrow valley between Santa Agata and Moirano, on the road from the former place to Benevento, and traversed by the little river Iselero. The enumeration here beginning with the Æclani is thought by Hardouin to be of nations belonging to Apulia, and not to the Hirpini. The Æclani, here mentioned, were probably the people of the place now called Ascoli di Satriano, not far from the river Carapella. Of the Aletrini and Atrani nothing appears to be known.], the Alfellani [Probably the people of Affilæ, still called Affile, and seven miles from Subiaco. Inscriptions and fragments of columns are still found there.], the Atinates [The people of Atinum, a town of Lucania, situate in the upper valley of the Tanager, now the Valle di Diano. Its site is ascertained by the ruins near the village of Atena, five miles north of La Sala. Collatia was situate on the Anio, now called the Teverone.], the Arpani, the Borcani, the Collatini, the Corinenses, the Cannenses [The ruins of the town of Canuæ are still visible at a place called Canne, about eight miles from Canosa. The Romans were defeated by Hannibal, on the banks of the Aufidus in its vicinity, but there is considerable question as to the exact locality. The ruins of the town are still considerable.], rendered famous by the defeat of the Romans, the Dirini, the Forentani [Forentum was the site of the present Forenza in the Basilicate. It is called by Horace and Diodorus Siculus, Ferentum. The ancient town probably stood on a plain below the modern one. Some remains of it are still to be seen.], the Genusini [On the site of Genusium stands the modern Ginosa. The ruins of the ancient city of Herdonea are still to be seen in the vicinity of the modern Ordona, on the high road from Naples to Otranto. This place witnessed the defeat by Hannibal of the Romans twice in two years.], the Herdonienses, the Hyrini [The mention of the Hyrini, or people of Hyrium or Hyria, is probably an error, as he has already mentioned Uria, the same place, among the Daunian Apulians, and as on the sea-shore. See p. 228. It is not improbably a corrupted form of some other name.], the Larinates surnamed Frentani [From the Frento, on the banks of which they dwelt.], the Merinates [Viesta, on the promontory of Gargano, is said to occupy the site of the ancient Merinum.] of Garganus, the Mateolani, the Netini [According to Mannert, the modern town of Noja stands on the site of ancient Netium.], the Rubustini [They inhabited Ruvo, in the territory of Bari, according to Hardouin.], the Silvini [Their town was Silvium; probably on the site of the modern Savigliano.], the Strapellini [According to D’Anville their town was Strabellum, now called Rapolla.], the Turmentini, the Vibinates [Their town is supposed to have been on the site of the modern Bovino, in the Capitanata.], the Venusini, and the Ulurtini. In the interior of Calabria there are the Ægetini, the Apamestini [The people of Apamestæ; probably on the site of the modern San Vito, two miles west of Polignano.], the Argentini, the Butuntinenses [The people of Butuntum, now Bitonto, an inland city of Apulia, twelve miles from Barium, and five from the sea. No particulars of it are known. All particulars too of most of the following tribes have perished.], the Deciani, the Grumbestini, the Norbanenses, the Palionenses, the Sturnini [D’Anville places their city, Sturni, at the present Ostuni, not far from the Adriatic, and fourteen leagues from Otranto.], and the Tutini: there are also the following Salentine nations; the Aletini [The people of Aletium already mentioned.], the Basterbini [Their town possibly stood on the site of the present village of Veste, to the west of Castro. The Neretini were probably the people of the present Nardo.], the Neretini, the Uxentini, and the Veretini [Probably the people of the town which stood on the site of the present San Verato.].

Chap. 17. (12.)—The Fourth Region of Italy.

We now come to the fourth region, which includes the most valiant probably of all the nations of Italy. Upon the coast, in the territory of the Frentani [They occupied what is now called the Abruzzo Inferiore.], after the river Tifernus, we find the river Trinium [Now the Trigno.], with a good harbour at its mouth, the towns of Histonium [On the site of the present Vasto d’Ammone, five miles south of the Punta della Penna. There are numerous remains of the ancient city.], Buca [According to Strabo Buca bordered on the territory of Teanum, which would place its site at Termoli, a seaport three miles from the mouth of the Biferno or Tifernus. Other writers, however, following Pliny, have placed it on the Punta della Penna, where considerable remains were visible in the 17th century. Ortona still retains its ancient name.], and Ortona, and the river Aternus [Now the Pescara.]. In the interior are the Anxani surnamed Frentani, the Higher and Lower Carentini [The sites of their towns are unknown; but D’Anville supposes the Higher or Upper Carentum to have occupied the site of the modern Civita Burella, and the Lower one the Civita del Conte.], and the Lanuenses; in the territory of the Marrucini, the Teatini [Teate is supposed to be the present Chieti.]; in that of the Peligni, the Corfinienses [The people of Corfinium, the chief city of the Peligni. It is supposed to have remained in existence up to the tenth century. Its ruins are seen near Pentima, about the church of San Pelino.], the Superæquani [The site of Superæquum is occupied by the present Castel Vecchio Subequo.], and the Sulmonenses [The people of Sulmo, a town ninety miles from Rome. It was the birth-place of Ovid, and was famous for the coldness of its waters, a circumstance mentioned by Ovid in his Tristia, B. iv. ch. x. l. 4. It is now called Sulmona.]; in that of the Marsi, the Anxantini [The people of Anxanum or Anxa, on the Sangro, now known as the city of Lanciano; in the part of which, known as Lanciano Vecchio, remains of the ancient town are to be seen.], the Atinates [The people probably of Atina in Samnium, which still retains the same name.], the Fucentes [They probably took their name from the Lake Fucinus, the modern Lago Fucino, or Lago di Celano.], the Lucenses [They dwelt in a town on the verge of Lake Fucinus, known as Lucus.], and the Marruvini [The ruins of Marruvium may still be seen at Muria, on the eastern side of Lake Fucinus.]; in that of the Albenses, the town of Alba on Lake Fucinus; in that of the Æquiculani, the Cliternini [It has been suggested, from the discovery of a sepulchral inscription there, that Capradosso, about nine miles from Rieti in the upper valley of the Salto, is the site of ancient Cliternia. The small village of Alba retains the name and site of the former city of Alba Fucensis, of which there are considerable remains.], and the Carseolani [The modern town of Carsoli is situate three miles from the site of ancient Carseoli, the remains of which are still visible at Civita near the Ostoria del Cavaliere. Ovid tells us that its climate was cold and bleak, and that it would not grow olives, though fruitful in corn. He also gives some other curious particulars of the place.—Fasti, B. iv. l. 683 et seq.]; in that of the Vestini, the Angulani [The modern Civita Sant Angelo retains nearly its ancient name as that of its patron saint. It is situate on a hill, four miles from the Adriatic, and south of the river Matrinus, which separated the Vestini from the territories of Adria and Picenum.], the Pinnenses, and the Peltuinates, adjoining to whom are the Aufinates [The village of Ofena, twelve miles north of Popoli, is supposed to retain the site of ancient Aufina. Numerous antiquities have been found here.] Cismontani; in that of the Samnites, who have been called Sabelli [Cato in his ‘Origines’ stated that they were so called from the fact of their being descended from the Sabines.], and whom the Greeks have called Saunitæ, the colony of old Bovianum [The site of the town of Bovianum is occupied by the modern city of Bojano; the remains of the walls are visible. Mommsen however considers Bojano to be the site of only Bovianum Undecumanorum, or “of the Eleventh Legion,” and considers that the site of the ancient Samnite city of Bovianum Vetus is the place called Piettrabondante, near Agnone, twenty miles to the north, where there appear to be the remains of an ancient city.], and that of the Undecumani, the Aufidenates [The people of Aufidena, a city of northern Samnium, in the upper valley of the Sagrus or Sagro. Its remains, which show it to have been a place of very great strength, are to be seen near the modern village of Alfidena, on a hill on the left bank of the modern Sangro.], the Esernini [The people of Esernia, now Isernia.], the Fagifulani, the Ficolenses [The people of Ficulia or Ficolea, a city of ancient Latium on the Via Nomentana. It is supposed that it was situate within the confines of the domain of Cesarini, and upon either the hill now called Monte Gentile, or that marked by the Torre Lupara.], the Sæpinates [Sæpinum is supposed to be the same with the modern Supino or Sipicciano.], and the Tereventinates; in that of the Sabini, the Amiternini [The ruins of the ancient Sabine city of Amiternum are still visible at San Vittorino, a village about five miles north of Aquila. Considerable remains of antiquity are still to be seen there.], the Curenses [The people of Cures, an ancient city of the Sabines, to the left of the Via Salaria, about three miles from the left bank of the Tiber, and twenty-four from Rome. It was the birth-place of Numa Pompilius. Its site is occupied by the present villages of Correse and Arci, and considerable remains of the ancient city are still to be seen.], Forum Decî [Nothing is known of this place; but it has been suggested that it stood in the neighbourhood of Forum Novum (or ‘New Market’), next mentioned, the present Vescovio.], Forum Novum, the Fidenates, the Interamnates [This Interamna must not be confounded with Interamna Lirinas, mentioned in C., nor Interamna Nartis, mentioned in C.. It was a city of Picenum in the territory of the Prætutii. The city of Teramo stands on its site; and extensive remains of the ancient city are still in existence.], the Nursini [From their town, Norsia in the duchy of Spoleto is said to derive its name.], the Nomentani [The people of Nomentum, now La Mentana.], the Reatini [The people of Reate, now Rieti, below Mursia.], the Trebulani, both those called Mutusci [The people of Trebulæ Mutuscæ, said to have stood on the site of the present Monte Leone della Sabina, below Rieti. This place is mentioned in the seventh Æneid of Virgil, as the “Olive-bearing Mutuscæ.”] and those called Suffenates [Their town was Trebula Suffena, on the site of the present Montorio di Romagna. The Tiburtes were the people of Tibur, the modern Tivoli; and the Tarinates were the inhabitants of Tarinum, now Tarano.], the Tiburtes, and the Tarinates.

In these districts, the Comini [The people of Cominium, the site of which is uncertain. It is supposed that there were three places of this name. One Cominium is mentioned in the Samnite wars as being about twenty miles from Aquilonia, while Cominium Ceritum, probably another place, is spoken of by Livy in his account of the second Punic War. The latter, it is suggested, was about sixteen miles north-west of Beneventum, and on the site of the modern Cerreto. The Comini here mentioned by Pliny, it is thought, dwelt in neither of the above places. The sites of the towns of many of the peoples here mentioned are also equally unknown.], the Tadiates, the Cædici, and the Alfaterni, tribes of the Æquiculi, have disappeared. From Gellianus we learn that Archippe [Solinus, B. ii., also states, that this place was founded by Marsyas, king of the Lydians. Hardouin mentions that in his time the remains of this town were said to be seen on the verge of the lake near Transaco.], a town of the Marsi, built by Marsyas, a chieftain of the Lydians, has been swallowed up by Lake Fucinus, and Valerianus informs us that the town of the Viticini in Picenum was destroyed by the Romans. The Sabini (called, according to some writers, from their attention to religious [From the Greek σέβεσθαι “to worship.”] observances and the worship of the gods, Sevini) dwell on the dew-clad hills in the vicinity of the Lakes of the Velinus [The river Velinus, now Velino, rising in the Apennines, in the vicinity of Reate, overflowed its banks and formed several small lakes, the largest of which was called Lake Velinus, now Pie di Lugo or Lago, while a smaller one was called Lacus Reatinus, now Lago di Santa Susanna. In order to carry off these waters, a channel was cut through the rocks by Curius Dentatus, the conqueror of the Sabines, by means of which the waters of the Velinus were carried through a narrow gorge to a spot where they fall from a height of several hundred feet into the river Nar. This fall is now known as the Fall of Terni or the Cascade Delle Marmore.]. The Nar, with its sulphureous waters, exhausts these lakes, and, descending from Mount Fiscellus [Still called Monte Fiscello, near the town of Civita Reale. Virgil calls the Nar (now the Nera), “Sulphureâ Nar albus aquâ,” “The white Nar with its sulphureous waters.”—Æneid, vii. 517.], unites with them near the groves of Vacuna [A Sabine divinity said to have been identical with Victory. The Romans however made her the goddess of leisure and repose, and represented her as being worshiped by the husbandmen at harvest home, when they were “vacui,” or at leisure. She is mentioned by Ovid in the Fasti, B. vi. l. 307. The grove here alluded to was one of her sanctuaries.] and Reate, and then directs its course towards the Tiber, into which it discharges itself. Again, in another direction, the Anio [The modern Teverone, which rises near Tervi or Trevi.], taking its rise in the mountain of the Trebani, carries into the Tiber the waters of three lakes remarkable for their picturesque beauty, and to which Sublaqueum [A town of the Æqui, now known as Subiaco. In its vicinity was the celebrated villa of Claudius and Nero, called the Villa Sublacencis.] is indebted for its name. In the territory of Reate is the Lake of Cutiliæ [This was a town of the Sabines between Reate and Interocrea, in the vicinity of a small lake of the same name. It was a mere pool, according to Dionysius, being but 400 feet in diameter. It is supposed that the floating island was formed from the incrustations of carbonate of lime on the banks, which, becoming detached, probably collected in the middle. The lake still exists, but the floating island has disappeared. There are some fine ruins of Roman baths in the vicinity of the lake.], in which there is a floating island, and which, according to M. Varro, is the navel or central point of Italy. Below the Sabine territory lies that of Latium, on one side Picenum, and behind it Umbria, while the range of the Apennines flanks it on either side.