[a] Lipsius, in his note on this passage, says, that he once thought
the word _scena_ in the text ought to be changed to _schola_; but he
afterwards saw his mistake. The place of fictitious declamation and
spurious eloquence, where the teachers played a ridiculous part, was
properly called a theatrical scene.
[b] Lucius Licinius Crassus and Domitius Ænobarbus were censors A.U.C.
662. Crassus himself informs us, that, for two years together, a new
race of men, called Rhetoricians, or masters of eloquence, kept open
schools at Rome, till he thought fit to exercise his censorian
authority, and by an edict to banish the whole tribe from the city of
Rome; and this, he says, he did, not, as some people suggested, to
hinder the talents of youth from being cultivated, but to save their
genius from being corrupted, and the young mind from being confirmed
in shameless ignorance. Audacity was all the new masters could teach;
and this being the only thing to be acquired on that stage of
impudence, he thought it the duty of a Roman censor to crush the
mischief in the bud. _Latini (sic diis placet) hoc biennio magistri
dicendi extiterunt; quos ego censor edicto meo sustuleram; non quo (ut
nescio quos dicere aiebant) acui ingenia adolescentium nollem, sed,
contra, ingenia obtundi nolui, corroborari impudentiam. Hos vero novos
magistros nihil intelligebam posse docere, nisi ut auderent. Hoc cum
unum traderetur, et cum impudentiæ ludus esset, putavi esse censoris,
ne longius id serperet, providere._ _De Orat._ lib. iii. s. 93 and 94.
Aulus Gellius mentions a former expulsion of the rhetoricians, by a
decree of the senate, in the consulship of Fannius Strabo and Valerius
Messala, A.U.C. 593. He gives the words of the decree, and also of the
edict, by which the teachers were banished by Crassus, several years
after. See _A. Gellius, Noctes Atticæ_, lib. xv. cap. 2. See also
Suetonius, _De Claris Rhet._ s. 1.
[c] Seneca has left a collection of declamations in the two kinds,
viz. the persuasive, and controversial. See his SUASORIÆ, and
CONTROVERSIÆ. In the first class, the questions are, Whether Alexander
should attempt the Indian ocean? Whether he should enter Babylon, when
the augurs denounced impending danger? Whether Cicero, to appease the
wrath of Marc Antony, should burn all his works? The subjects in the
second class are more complex. A priestess was taken prisoner by a
band of pirates, and sold to slavery. The purchaser abandoned her to
prostitution. Her person being rendered venal, a soldier made his
offers of gallantry. She desired the price of her prostituted charms;
but the military man resolved to use force and insolence, and she
stabbed him in the attempt. For this she was prosecuted, and
acquitted. She then desired to be restored to her rank of priestess:
that point was decided against her. These instances may serve as a
specimen of the trifling declamations, into which such a man as Seneca
was betrayed by his own imagination. Petronius has described the
literary farce of the schools. Young men, he says, were there trained
up in folly, neither seeing nor hearing any thing that could be of
use in the business of life. They were taught to think of nothing, but
pirates loaded with fetters on the sea-shore; tyrants by their edicts
commanding sons to murder their fathers; the responses of oracles
demanding a sacrifice of three or more virgins, in order to abate an
epidemic pestilence. All these discourses, void of common sense, are
tricked out in the gaudy colours of exquisite eloquence, soft, sweet,
and seasoned to the palate. In this ridiculous boy's-play the scholars
trifle away their time; they are laughed at in the forum, and still
worse, what they learn in their youth they do not forget at an
advanced age. _Ego adolescentulos existimo in scholis stultissimos
fieri, quia nihil ex iis, quæ in usu habemus, aut audiunt aut vident;
sed piratas cum catenis in littore stantes, et tyrannos edicta
scribentes, quibus imperent filiis, ut patrum suorum capita præcidant;
sed responsa in pestilentiâ data, ut virgines tres aut plures
immolentur; sed mellitos verborum globos, et omnia dicta factaque
quasi papavere et sesamo sparsa. Nunc pueri in scholis ludunt; juvenes
ridentur in foro; et, quod utroque turpius est, quod quisque perperam
discit, in senectute confiteri non vult._ Petron. _in Satyrico_, cap.
3 and 4.
[d] Here unfortunately begins a chasm in the original. The words are,
_Cum ad veros judices ventum est, * * * * rem cogitare * * * * nihil
humile, nihil abjectum eloqui poterat._ This is unintelligible. What
follows from the words _magna eloquentia sicut flamma_, palpably
belongs to Maternus, who is the last speaker in the Dialogue. The
whole of what Secundus said is lost. The expedient has been, to divide
the sequel between Secundus and Maternus; but that is mere patch-work.
We are told in the first section of the Dialogue, that the several
persons present spoke their minds, each in his turn assigning
different but probable causes, and at times agreeing on the same.
There can, therefore, be no doubt but Secundus took his turn in the
course of the enquiry. Of all the editors of Tacitus, Brotier is the
only one who has adverted to this circumstance. To supply the loss, as
well as it can now be done by conjecture, that ingenious commentator
has added a Supplement, with so much taste, and such a degree of
probability, that it has been judged proper to adopt what he has
added. The thread of the discourse will be unbroken, and the reader,
it is hoped, will prefer a regular continuity to a mere vacant space.
The inverted comma in the margin of the text [transcriber's note: not
used, but numbered with decimal rather than Roman numerals] will mark
the supplemental part, as far as section 36, where the original
proceeds to the end of the Dialogue. The sections of the Supplement
will be marked, for the sake of distinction, with figures, instead of
the Roman numeral letters.
SUPPLEMENT.
Section 1.
[a] Petronius says, you may as well expect that the person, who is for
ever shut up in a kitchen, should be sweet and fresh, as that young
men, trained up in such absurd and ridiculous interludes, should
improve their taste or judgement. _Qui inter hæc nutriuntur, non magis
sapere possunt, quam bene olere, qui in culiná habitant._ Petronius,
_in Satyrico_, s. 2.
Section 2.
[a] The means by which an orator is nourished, formed, and raised to
eminence, are here enumerated. These are the requisites, that lead to
that distinguished eloquence, which is finely described by Petronius,
when he says, a sublime oration, but sublime within due bounds, is
neither deformed with affectation, nor turgid in any part, but,
depending on truth and simplicity, rises to unaffected grandeur.
_Grandis, et, ut ita dicam, pudica oratio, non est maculosa, nec
turgida, sed naturali pulchritudine exsurgit._ Petronius, _in
Satyrico_, s. 2.
Section 3.
[a] Maternus engaged for himself and Secundus, that they would
communicate their sentiments: see s. 16. In consequence of that
promise, Messala now calls upon them both. They have already declared
themselves admirers of ancient eloquence. It now remains to be known,
whether they agree with Messala as to the cause that occasioned a
rapid decline: or whether they can produce new reasons of their own.
Section 4.
[a] Secundus proceeds to give his opinion. This is managed by Brotier
with great art and judgement, since it is evident in the original text
that Maternus closed the debate. According to what is said in the
introduction to the Dialogue, Secundus agrees with Messala upon most
points, but still assigns different, but probable reasons. A
revolution, he says, happened in literature; a new taste prevailed,
and the worst models were deemed worthy of imitation. The emotions of
the heart were suppressed. Men could no longer yield to the impulse of
genius. They endeavoured to embellish their composition with novelty;
they sparkled with wit, and amused their readers with point,
antithesis, and forced conceits. They fell into the case of the man,
who, according to Martial, was ingenious, but not eloquent:
Cum sexaginta numeret Casselius annos;
Ingeniosus homo est: quando disertus erit?
Lib. vii. epig. 8.
[b] Enough, perhaps, has been already said in the notes, concerning
the teachers of rhetoric; but it will not be useless to cite one
passage more from Petronius, who in literature, as well as convivial
pleasure, may be allowed to be _arbiter elegantiarum_. The
rhetoricians, he says, came originally from Asia; they were, however,
neither known to Pindar, and the nine lyric poets, nor to Plato, or
Demosthenes. They arrived at Athens in evil hour, and imported with
them that enormous frothy loquacity, which at once, like a pestilence,
blasted all the powers of genius, and established the rules of corrupt
eloquence. _Nondum umbraticus doctor ingenia deleverat, cum Pindarus
novemque lyrici Homericis versibus canere non timuerunt. Certe neque
Platona, neque Demosthenem, ad hoc genus exercitationis accessisse
video. Nuper ventosa isthæc et enormis loquacitas Athenas ex Asia
commigravit, animosque juvenum ad magna surgentes veluti pestilenti
quodam sidere afflavit; simulque corruptæ eloquentiæ regula stetit et
obtinuit._ Petron. _Satyricon_, s. 2.
Section 5.
[a] When the public taste was vitiated, and to _elevate and surprise_,
as Bayes says, was the _new way of writing_, Seneca is, with good
reason, ranked in the class of ingenious, but affected authors. Menage
says, if all the books in the world were in the fire, there is not
one, whom he would so eagerly snatch from the flames as Plutarch. That
author never tires him; he reads him often, and always finds new
beauties. He cannot say the same of Seneca; not but there are
admirable passages in his works, but when brought to the test they
lose their apparent beauty by a close examination. Seneca serves to be
quoted in the warmth of conversation, but is not of equal value in the
closet. Whatever be the subject, he wishes to shine, and, by
consequence, his thoughts are too refined, and often _false.
Menagiana_, tom. ii. p. 1.
Section 6.
[a] This charge against Seneca is by no means new. Quintilian was his
contemporary; he saw and heard the man, and, in less than twenty
years after his death, pronounced judgement against him. In the
conclusion of the first chapter of his tenth book, after having given
an account of the Greek and Roman authors, he says, he reserved Seneca
for the last place, because, having always endeavoured to counteract
the influence of a bad taste, he was supposed to be influenced by
motives of personal enmity. But the case was otherwise. He saw that
Seneca was the favourite of the times, and, to check the torrent that
threatened the ruin of all true eloquence, he exerted his best efforts
to diffuse a sounder judgement. He did not wish that Seneca should be
laid aside: but he could not in silence see him preferred to the
writers of the Augustan age, whom that writer endeavoured to
depreciate, conscious that, having chosen a different style, he could
not hope to please the taste of those who were charmed with the
authors of a former day. But Seneca was still in fashion; his
partisans continued to admire, though it cannot be said that they
imitated him. He fell short of the ancients, and they were still more
beneath their model. Since they were content to copy, it were to be
wished that they had been able to vie with him. He pleased by his
defects, and the herd of imitators chose the worst. They acquired a
vicious manner, and flattered themselves that they resembled their
master. But the truth is, they disgraced him. Seneca, it must be
allowed, had many great and excellent qualities; a lively imagination,
vast erudition, and extensive knowledge. He frequently employed others
to make researches for him, and was often deceived. He embraced all
subjects; in his philosophy, not always profound, but a keen censor of
the manners, and on moral subjects truly admirable. He has brilliant
passages, and beautiful sentiments; but the expression is in a false
taste, the more dangerous, as he abounds with delightful vices. You
would have wished that he had written with his own imagination, and
the judgement of others. To sum up his character; had he known how to
rate little things, had he been above the petty ambition of always
shining, had he not been fond of himself, had he not weakened his
force by minute and dazzling sentences, he would have gained, not the
admiration of boys, but the suffrage of the judicious. At present he
may be read with safety by those who have made acquaintance with
better models. His works afford the fairest opportunity of
distinguishing the beauties of fine writing from their opposite vices.
He has much to be approved, and even admired: but a just selection is
necessary, and it is to be regretted that he did not choose for
himself. Such was the judgement of Quintilian: the learned reader
will, perhaps, be glad to have the whole passage in the author's
words, rather than be referred to another book. _Ex industriâ Senecam,
in omni genere eloquentiæ versatum, distuli, propter vulgatam falso de
me opinionem, quâ damnare eum, et invisum quoque habere sum creditus.
Quod, accidit mihi, dum corruptum, et omnibus vitiis fractum dicendi
genus revocare ad severiora judicia contendo. Tum autem solus hic fere
in manibus adolescentium fuit. Quem non equidem omnino conabar
excutere, sed potioribus præferri non sinebam, quos ille non
destiterat incessere, cum, diversi sibi conscius generis, placere se
in dicendo posse iis quibus illi placerent, diffideret. Amabant autem
eum magis, quàm imitabantur; tantumque ab illo defluebant, quantum
ille ab antiquis descenderat. Foret enim optandum, pares, aut saltem
proximos, illi viro fieri. Sed placebat propter sola vitia, et ad ea
se quisque dirigebat effingenda, quæ poterat. Deinde cum se jactaret
eodem modo dicere, Senecam infamabat. Cujus et multæ alioqui et magnæ
virtutes fuerunt; ingenium facile et copiosum; plurimum studii; et
multarum rerum cognitio, in quâ tamen aliquando ab iis, quibus
inquirenda quædam mandabat, deceptus est. Tractavit etiam omnem ferè
studiorum materiam; In philosophiâ parum diligens, egregius tamen
vitiorum insectator. Multa in eo claræque sententiæ; multa etiam morum
gratiâ legenda; sed in eloquendo corrupta pleraque, atque eo
perniciosissima, quod abundat dulcibus vitiis. Velles eum suo ingenio
dixisse, alieno judicio. Nam si aliqua contempsisset; si parum
concupisset, si non omnia sua amasset; si rerum pondera minutissimis
sententiis non fregisset, consensu potius eruditorum, quàm puerorum
amore comprobaretur. Verùm sic quoque jam robustis, et severiore
genere satis firmatis, legendus, vel ideo, quod exercere potest
utrimque judicium. Multa enim (ut dixi) probanda in eo, multa etiam
admiranda sunt; eligere modo curæ sit, quod utinam ipse fecisset._
Quintil. lib. x. cap. 1. From this it is evident, that Seneca, even in
the meridian of his fame and power, was considered as the grand
corrupter of eloquence. The charge is, therefore, renewed in this
Dialogue, with strict propriety. Rollin, who had nourished his mind
with ancient literature, and was, in his time, the Quintilian of
France, has given the same opinion of Seneca, who, he says, knew how
to play the critic on the works of others, and to condemn the strained
metaphor, the forced conceit, the tinsel sentence, and all the
blemishes of a corrupt style, without desiring to weed them out of his
own productions. In a letter to his friend (epist. 114), which has
been mentioned section xxvi. note [c], Seneca admits a general
depravity of taste, and with great acuteness, and, indeed, elegance,
traces it to its source, to the luxury and effeminate manners of the
age; he compares the florid orators of his time to a set of young
fops, well powdered and perfumed, just issuing from their toilette:
_Barbâ et comâ nitidos, de capsulâ totos_; he adds, that such affected
finery is not the true ornament of a man. _Non est ornamentum virile,
concinnitas._ And yet, says Rollin, he did not know that he was
sitting to himself for the picture. He aimed for ever at something
new, far fetched, ingenious, and pointed. He preferred wit to truth
and dignified simplicity. The marvellous was with him better than the
natural; and he chose to surprise and dazzle, rather than merit the
approbation of sober judgement. His talents placed him at the head of
the fashion, and with those enchanting vices which Quintilian ascribes
to him, he was, no doubt, the person who contributed most to the
corruption of taste and eloquence. See Rollin's _Belles Lettres_, vol.
i. _sur le Gout_. Another eminent critic, L'ABBE GEDOYN, who has given
an elegant translation of Quintilian, has, in the preface to that
work, entered fully into the question concerning the decline of
eloquence. He admits that Seneca did great mischief, but he takes the
matter up much higher. He traces it to OVID, and imputes the taste for
wit and spurious ornament, which prevailed under the emperors, to the
false, but seducing charms of that celebrated poet. Ovid was,
undoubtedly, the greatest wit of his time; but his wit knew no bounds.
His fault was, exuberance. _Nescivit quod bene cessit relinquere_,
says Seneca, who had himself the same defect. Whatever is Ovid's
subject, the redundance of a copious fancy still appears. Does he
bewail his own misfortunes; he seems to think, that, unless he is
witty, he cannot be an object of compassion. Does he write letters to
and from disappointed lovers; the greatest part flows from fancy, and
little from the heart. He gives us the brilliant for the pathetic.
With these faults, Ovid had such enchanting graces, that his style and
manner infected every branch of literature. The tribe of imitators had
not the genius of their master; but being determined to shine in spite
of nature, they ruined all true taste and eloquence. This is the
natural progress of imitation, and Seneca was well aware of it. He
tells us that the faults and blemishes of a corrupt style are ever
introduced by some superior genius, who has risen to eminence in bad
writing; his admirers imitate a vicious manner, and thus a false taste
goes round from one to another. _Hæc vitia unus aliquis inducit, sub
quo tunc eloquentia est: cæteri imitantur; et alter alteri tradunt._
Epist. 114. Seneca, however, did not know that he was describing
himself. Tacitus says he had a genius suited to the taste of the age.
_Ingenium amœnum et temporis ejus auribus accommodatum._ He adopted
the faults of Ovid, and was able to propagate them. For these reasons,
the Abbé Gedoyn is of opinion, that Ovid began the mischief, and
Seneca laid the axe to the root of the tree. It is certain, that,
during the remaining period of the empire, true eloquence never
revived.
Section 7.
[a] Historians have concurred in taxing Vespasian with avarice, in
some instances, mean and sordid; but they agree, at the same time,
that the use which he made of his accumulated riches, by encouraging
the arts, and extending liberal rewards to men of genius, is a
sufficient apology for his love of money.
[b] Titus, it is needless to say, was the friend of virtue and of
every liberal art. Even that monster Domitian was versed in polite
learning, and by fits and starts capable of intense application: but
we read in Tacitus, that his studies and his pretended love of poetry
served as a cloak to hide his real character. See _History_, b. iv. s.
86.
[c] Pliny the younger describes the young men of his time rushing
forward into the forum without knowledge or decency. He was told, he
says, by persons advanced in years, that, according to ancient usage,
no young man, even of the first distinction, was allowed to appear at
the bar, unless he was introduced by one of consular dignity. But, in
his time, all fences of respect and decency were thrown down. Young
men scorned to be introduced; they forced their way, and took
possession of the forum without any kind of recommendation. _At
hercule ante memoriam meam (majores natu ita solent dicere), ne
nobilissimis quidem adolescentibus locus erat, nisi aliquo consulari
producente; tantâ veneratione pulcherrimum opus celebrabatur. Nunc
refractis pudoris et reverentiæ claustris, omnia patent omnibus. Nec
inducuntur, sed irrumpunt._ Plin. lib. ii. epist. 14.
Section 8.
[a] This want of decorum before the tribunals of justice would appear
incredible, were it not well attested by the younger Pliny. The
audience, he says, was suited to the orators. Mercenary wretches were
hired to applaud in the courts, where they were treated at the
expence of the advocate, as openly as if they were in a
banqueting-room. _Sequuntur auditores actoribus similes, conducti et
redempti mancipes. Convenitur in mediâ basilicâ, ubi tam palam
sportulæ quam in triclinio dantur._ Plin. lib, ii. epist. 14. He adds
in the same epistle, LARGIUS LICINIUS first introduced this custom,
merely that he might procure an audience. _Primus hunc audiendi morem
induxit Largius Licinius, hactenus tamen ut auditores corrogaret._
[b] This anecdote is also related by Pliny, in the following manner:
Quintilian, his preceptor, told him that one day, when he attended
Domitius Afer in a cause before the _centumviri_, a sudden and
outrageous noise was heard from the adjoining court. Afer made a
pause; the disturbance ceased, and he resumed the thread of his
discourse. He was interrupted a second and a third time. He asked, who
was the advocate that occasioned so much uproar? Being told, that
Licinius was the person, he addressed himself to the court in these
words: _Centumvirs! all true eloquence is now at an end. Ex
Quintiliano, præceptore meo, audisse memini: narrabat ille, Assectabar
Domitium Afrum, cum apud centumviros diceret graviter et lentè (hoc
enim illi actionis genus erat), audiit ex proximo immodicum
insolitumque clamorem; admiratus reticuit; ubi silentium factum est,
repetit quod abruperat; iterum clamor, iterum reticuit; et post
silentium, cœpit idem tertio. Novissimè quis diceret quæsivit.
Responsum est, Licinius. Tum intermissâ causâ_, CENTUMVIRI, _inquit_,
HOC ARTIFICIUM PERIIT. Lib. ii. ep. 14. Domitius Afer has been
mentioned, s. xiii. note [d]. To what is there said of him may be
added a fact related by Quintilian, who says that Afer, when old and
superannuated, still continued at the bar, exhibiting the decay of
genius, and every day diminishing that high reputation which he once
possessed. Hence men said of him, he had rather _decline_ than
_desist_. _Malle eum deficere, quam desinere._ Quint. lib. xii. cap.
11.
[c] The men who applauded for hire, went from court to court to bellow
forth their venal approbation. Pliny says, No longer ago than
yesterday, two of my _nomenclators_, both about the age of seventeen,
were bribed to play the part of critics. Their pay was about three
_denarii_: that at present is the price of eloquence. _Ex judicio in
judicium pari mercede transitur. Heri duo nomenclatores mei (habent
sane ætatem eorum, qui nuper togas sumpserunt), ternis denariis ad
laudandum trahebantur. Tanti constat, ut sis disertus._ Lib. ii.
epist. 14.
[d] The whole account of the trade of puffing is related in the
Dialogue, on the authority of Pliny, who tells us that those wretched
sycophants had two nick-names; one in Greek, [Greek: Sophokleis], and
the other in Latin, LAUDICÆNI; the former from _sophos_, the usual
exclamation of applause, as in Martial: _Quid tam grande sophos clamat
tibi turba, togata_; the Latin word importing _parasites_ who sold
their praise for a supper. _Inde jam non inurbanè [Greek: Sophokleis]
vocantur; iisdem nomen Latinum impositum est_, LAUDICÆNI. _Et tamen
crescit indies fœditas utrâque linguâ notata._ Lib. ii. epist. 14.
Section 10.
[a] Pliny tells us, that he employed much of his time in pleading
causes before the _centumviri_; but he grew ashamed of the business,
when he found those courts attended by a set of bold young men, and
not by lawyers of any note or consequence. But still the service of
his friends, and his time of life, induced him to continue his
practice for some while longer, lest he should seem, by quitting it
abruptly, to fly from fatigue, not from the indecorum of the place. He
contrived however to appear but seldom, in order to withdraw himself
by degrees. _Nos tamen adhuc et utilitas amicorum, et ratio ætatis,
moratur ac retinet. Veremur enim ne fortè non has indignitates
reliquisse, sed laborem fugisse videamur. Sumus tamen solito rariores,
quod initium est gradatim desinendi._ Lib. ii. epist. 14.
Section 11.
[a] The person here distinguished from the rest of the rhetoricians,
is the celebrated Quintilian, of whose elegant taste and superior
judgement it were superfluous to say a word. Martial has given his
character in two lines:--
Quintiliane, vagæ moderator summe juventæ,
Gloria Romanæ, Quintiliane, togæ.
Lib. ii. epig. 90.
It is generally supposed that he was a native of _Calaguris_ (now
_Calahorra_), a city in Spain, rendered famous by the martial spirit
of Sertorius, who there stood a siege against Pompey. Vossius,
however, thinks that he was born a Roman; and GEDOYN, the elegant
translator mentioned section 6. note [a], accedes to that opinion,
since Martial does not claim him as his countryman. The same writer
says, that it is still uncertain when Quintilian was born, and when he
died; but, after a diligent enquiry, he thinks it probable that the
great critic was born towards the latter end of Tiberius; and, of
course, when Domitius Afer died in the reign of Nero, A.U.C. 812, A.D.
59, that he was then two and twenty. His Institutions of an Orator
were written in the latter end of Domitian, when Quintilian, as he
himself says, was far advanced in years. The time of his death is no
where mentioned, but it probably was under Nerva or Trajan. It must
not be dissembled, that this admirable author was not exempt from the
epidemic vice of the age in which he lived. He flattered Domitian, and
that strain of adulation is the only blemish in his work. The love of
literature may be said to have been his ruling passion; but, in his
estimation, learning and genius are subordinate to honour, truth, and
virtue.
Section 12.
[a] Maternus, without contradicting Messala or Secundus, gives his
opinion, viz. that the decline of eloquence, however other causes
might conspire, was chiefly occasioned by the ruin of a free
constitution. To this he adds another observation, which seems to be
founded in truth, as we find that, since the revival of letters, Spain
has produced one CERVANTES; France, one MOLIERE; England, one
SHAKSPEARE, and one MILTON.
Section 13.
[a] Examples of short, abrupt, and even sublime speeches out of the
mouth of Barbarians, might, if the occasion required it, be produced
in great abundance. Mr. Locke has observed, that the humours of a
people may be learned from their usage of words. Seneca has said the
same, and, in epistle cxiv. has explained himself on the subject with
acute reasoning and beautiful illustration. The whole letter merits
the attention of the judicious critic. The remainder of this, and the
whole of the following section, serve to enforce the proposition of
the speaker, viz. that Roman eloquence died with public liberty. The
Supplement ends here. The original text is resumed in the next
section, and proceeds unbroken to the end of the Dialogue.
Section XXXVI.
[a] When great and powerful eloquence is compared to a flame, that
must be supported by fresh materials, it is evident that the sentence
is a continuation, not the opening of a new argument. It has been
observed, and it will not be improper to repeat, that the two former
speakers (Messala and Secundus) having stated, according to their way
of thinking, the causes of corrupt eloquence, Maternus, as was
promised in the outset of the Dialogue, now proceeds to give another
reason, and, perhaps, the strongest of all; namely, the alteration of
the government from the old republican form to the absolute sway of a
single ruler.
[b] The colonies, the provinces, and the nations that submitted to the
Roman arms, had their patrons in the capital, whom they courted with
assiduity. It was this mark of distinction that raised the ambitious
citizen to the first honours in the state. To have a number of
clients, as well at home as in the most important colonies, was the
unremitting desire, the study, and constant labour of all who aimed at
pre-eminence; insomuch that, in the time of the old republic, the men
who wished to be distinguished patrons, impoverished, and often ruined
their families, by their profusion and magnificence. They paid court
to the common people, to the provinces, and states in alliance with
Rome; and, in their turn, they received the homage of their clients.
See _Annals_, b. iii. s. 55.
[c] We read in Quintilian, that oral testimony, and depositions signed
by the witnesses, were both in use in his time. Written evidence, he
observes, was easily combated; because the witness who chose to speak
in the presence of a few who signed his attestation, might be guilty
of a violation of truth with greater confidence; and besides, not
being cited to speak, his being a volunteer in the cause was a
circumstance against him, since it shewed that he acted with ill-will
to the opposite party. With regard to the witness who gives his
testimony in open court, the advocate has more upon his hands: he must
press him with questions, and in a set speech observe upon his
evidence. He must also support his own witnesses, and, therefore, must
draw up two lines of battle. _Maximus patronis circa testimonia sudor
est. Ea dicuntur aut per tabulas, aut a præsentibus. Simplicior contra
tabulas pugna. Nam et minus obstitisse videtur pudor inter paucos
signatores, et pro diffidentiâ premitur absentia. Tacitâ præterea
quâdam significatione refragatur his omnibus, quod nemo per tabulas
dat testimonium, nisi suâ voluntate; quo ipso non esse amicum ei se,
contra quem dicit, fatetur. Cum præsentibus verò ingens dimicatio est:
ideoque velut duplici contra eos, proque his, acie confligitur,
actionum et interrogationum._ Quint. lib. v. cap. 7.
Section XXXVII.
[a] For an account of Mucianus, see section 7, note c [transcriber's
note: reference does not match]; also _the History_, b. ii. s. 5.
Suetonius relates that Vespasian, having undertaken to restore three
thousand brazen plates, which had perished in the conflagration of the
capital (see the _Hist. of Tacitus_, b. iii. s. 71), ordered a
diligent search to be made for copies, and thereby furnished the
government with a collection of curious and ancient records,
containing the decrees of the senate, acts of the commons, and
treaties of alliance, almost from the building of the city. Suetonius,
_Life of Vespasian_, s. 8. This, with the addition of speeches and
letters composed by men of eminence, was, most probably, the
collection published by Mucianus. We may be sure that it contained a
fund of information, and curious materials for history; but the whole
is unfortunately lost.
[b] The person intended in this place must not be confounded with
Lucius Crassus, the orator celebrated by Cicero in the Dialogue DE
ORATORE. What is here said, relates to Marcus Crassus, who was joined
in the triumvirate with Pompey and Cæsar; a man famous for his riches,
his avarice, and his misfortunes. While Cæsar was engaged in Gaul, and
Pompey in Spain, Crassus invaded Asia, where, in a battle with the
Parthians, his whole army was cut to pieces. He himself was in danger
of being taken prisoner, but he fell by the sword of the enemy. His
head was cut off, and carried to Orodes, the Parthian king, who
ordered liquid gold to be infused into his mouth, that he, who
thirsted for gold, might be glutted with it after his death. _Caput
ejus recisum ad regem reportatum, ludibrio fuit, neque indigno. Aurum
enim liquidum in rictum oris infusum est, ut cujus animus arserat auri
cupiditate, ejus etiam mortuum et exangue corpus auro uteretur._
Florus, lib. iii. cap. 11. Cicero says, that with slender talents, and
a small stock of learning, he was able for some years, by his
assiduity and interest, to maintain his rank in the list of eminent
orators. _Mediocriter a doctrinâ instructus, angustius etiam a naturâ,
labore et industriâ, et quod adhibebat ad obtinendas causas curam
etiam, et gratiam, in principibus patronis aliquot annos fuit. In
hujus oratione sermo Latinus erat, verba non abjecta, res compositæ
diligenter; nullus flos tamen, neque lumen ullum: animi magna, vocis
parva contentio; omnia ferè ut similiter, atque uno modo dicerentur._
Cicero, _De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 233.
[c] Lentulus succeeded more by his action than by real ability. With a
quick and animated countenance, he was not a man of penetration;
though fluent in speech, he had no command of words. His voice was
sweet and melodious; his action graceful; and with those advantages he
was able to conceal all other defects. _Cneius autem Lentulus multo
majorem opinionem dicendi actione faciebat, quam quanta in eo facultas
erat; qui cum esset nec peracutus (quamquam et ex facie et ex vultu
videbatur) nec abundans verbis, etsi fallebat in eo ipso; sed voce
suavi et canorâ calebat in agendo, ut ea, quæ deerant, non
desiderarentur._ Cicero, _De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 234. Metellus,
Lucullus, and Curio, are mentioned by Cicero in the same work. Curio
was a senator of great spirit and popularity. He exerted himself with
zeal and ardour for the legal constitution and the liberties of his
country against the ambition of Julius Cæsar, but afterwards sold
himself to that artful politician, and favoured his designs. The
calamities that followed are by the best historians laid to his
charge. Lucan says of him,
Audax venali comitatur Curio linguâ;
Vox quondam populi, libertatemque tueri
Ausus, et armatos plebi miscere potentes.
Lib. i. ver. 269.
And again,
Moméntumque fuit mutatus Curio rerum,
Gallorum captus spoliis, et Cæsaris auro.
PHARSALIA, lib. iv. ver. 819.
[d] Demosthenes, when not more than seven years old, lost his father,
and was left under the care of three guardians, who thought an orphan
lawful prey, and did not scruple to embezzle his effects. In the mean
time Demosthenes pursued a plan of education, without the aid or
advice of his tutors. He became the scholar of Isocrates, and he was
the hearer of Plato. Under those masters his progress was such, that
at the age of seventeen he was able to conduct a suit against his
guardians. The young orator succeeded so well in that prelude to his
future fame, that the plunderers of the orphan's portion were
condemned to refund a large sum. It is said that Demosthenes,
afterwards, released the whole or the greatest part.
Section XXXVIII.
[a] The rule for allowing a limited space of time for the hearing of
causes, the extent of which could not be known, began, as Pliny the
younger informs us, under the emperors, and was fully established for
the reasons which he gives. The custom, he says, of allowing two
water-glasses (_i.e. two hour-glasses_) or only one, and sometimes
half a one, prevailed, because the advocates grew tired before the
business was explained, and the judges were ready to decide before
they understood the question. Pliny, with some indignation, asks, Are
we wiser than our ancestors? are the laws more just at present? Our
ancestors allowed many hours, many days, and many adjournments, in
every cause; and for my part, as often as I sit in judgement, I allow
as much time as the advocate requires; for would it not be rashness to
guess what space of time is necessary in a cause which has not been
opened? But some unnecessary things may be said; and is it not better,
that what is unnecessary should be spoken, than that what is necessary
should be omitted? And who can tell what is necessary, till he has
heard? Patience in a judge ought to be considered as one of the chief
branches of his duty, as it certainly is of justice. See Plin. b. vi.
ep. 2. In England, there is no danger of arbitrary rules, to gratify
the impatience of the court, or to stifle justice. The province of
juries, since the late declaratory act in the case of libels, is now
better understood; and every judge is taught, that a cause is tried
_before him_, not BY HIM. It is his to expound the law, and wait, with
temper, for the verdict of those whom the constitution has intrusted.
[b] Pompey's third consulship was A.U.C. 702; before Christ, 52. He
was at first sole consul, and in six or seven months Metellus Scipio
became his colleague.
[c] The centumviri, as mentioned s. vii. note [c], were a body of men
composed of three out of every tribe, for the decision of such matters
as the prætors referred to their judgement. The nature of the several
causes, that came before that judicature, may be seen in the first book
DE ORATORE.
[d] The question in this cause before the centumviri was, whether
Clusinius Figulus, the son of Urbinia, fled from his post in battle,
and, being taken prisoner, remained in captivity during a length of
time, till he made his escape into Italy; or, as was contended by
Asinius Pollio, whether the defendant did not serve under two masters,
who practised physic, and, being discharged by them, voluntarily sell
himself as a slave? See Quintilian, lib. vii. cap. 2.
Section XXXIX.
[a] The advocates, at that time, wore a tight cloak, or mantle, like
that which the Romans used on a journey. Cicero, in his oration for
Milo, argues that he who wore that inconvenient dress, was not likely
to have formed a design against the life of any man. _Apparet uter
esset insidiator; uter nihil cogitaret mali: cum alter veheretur in
rheda, penulatus, unà sederet uxor. Quid horum non impeditissimum?
Vestitus? an vehiculum? an comes?_ A travelling-cloak could give
neither grace nor dignity to an orator at the bar. The business was
transacted in a kind of chat with the judges: what room for eloquence,
and that commanding action which springs from the emotions of the
soul, and inflames every breast with kindred passions? The cold
inanimate orator is described, by Quintilian, speaking with his hand
under his robe; _manum intra pallium continens._ Section XL.
[a] Maternus is now drawing to a conclusion, and, therefore, calls to
mind the proposition with which he set out; viz. that the flame of
oratory is kept alive by fresh materials, and always blazes forth in
times of danger and public commotion. The unimpassioned style, which
suited the _areopagus_ of Athens, or the courts of Rome, where the
advocate spoke by an hour-glass, does not deserve the name of genuine
eloquence. The orations of Cicero for Marcellus, Ligarius, and king
Dejotarus, were spoken before Cæsar, when he was master of the Roman
world. In those speeches, what have we to admire, except delicacy of
sentiment, and elegance of diction? How different from the _torrent,
tempest, and whirlwind of passion_, that roused, inflamed, and
commanded the senate, and the people, against Catiline and Marc
Antony!
[b] For the account of Cicero's death by Velleius Paterculus, see s.
xvii. note [e]. Juvenal ascribes the murder of the great Roman orator
to the second Philippic against Antony.
----Ridenda poemata malo,
Quam te conspicuæ divina Philippica famæ,
Volveris a primâ quæ proxima.
SAT. x. ver. 124.
I rather would be Mævius, thrash for rhymes
Like his, the scorn and scandal of the times,
Than the _Philippic_, fatally divine,
Which is inscrib'd the second, should be mine.
DRYDEN'S JUVENAL.
What Cicero says of Antonius, the celebrated orator, may be applied to
himself: That head, which defended the commonwealth, was shewn from
that very rostrum, where the heads of so many Roman citizens had been
saved by his eloquence. _In his ipsis rostris, in quibus ille
rempublicam constantissime consul defenderat, positum caput illud
fuit, a quo erant multorum civium capita servata._ Cicero _De
Oratore_, lib. iii. s. 10.
Section XLII.
[a] The urbanity with which the Dialogue is conducted, and the perfect
harmony with which the speakers take leave of each other, cannot but
leave a pleasing impression on the mind of every reader of taste. It
has some resemblance to the conclusion of Cicero's Dialogue DE NATURA
DEORUM. In both tracts, we have a specimen of the politeness with
which the ancients managed a conversation on the most interesting
subjects, and by the graces of style brought the way of instructing by
dialogue into fashion. A modern writer, whose poetical genius cannot
be too much admired, chooses to call it a _frippery way of writing_.
He advises his countrymen to abandon it altogether; and this for a
notable reason: because the Rev. Dr. Hurd (now Bishop of Worcester)
has shewn the true use of it. That the dialogues of that amiable
writer have an intrinsic value, cannot be denied: they contain a fund
of reflection; they allure by the elegance of the style, and they
bring us into company with men whom we wish to hear, to know, and to
admire. While we have such conversation-pieces, not to mention others
of the same stamp, both ancient and modern, the public taste, it may
be presumed, will not easily be tutored to reject a mode of
composition, in which the pleasing and useful are so happily blended.
The present Dialogue, it is true, cannot be proved, beyond a
controversy, to be the work of Tacitus; but it is also true, that it
cannot, with equal probability, be ascribed to any other writer. It
has been retained in almost every edition of Tacitus; and, for that
reason, claims a place in a translation which professes to give all
the works of so fine a writer.
CONCLUSION.
The Author of these volumes has now gone through the difficult task
of translating Tacitus, with the superadded labour of supplements to
give continuity to the narrative, and notes to illustrate such
passages as seemed to want explanation; but he cannot lay down his
pen, without taking the liberty of addressing a few words to the
reader. As what he has to offer relates chiefly to himself, it shall
be very short. He has dedicated many years of his life to this
undertaking; and though, during the whole time, he had the pleasure
and the honour of being acquainted with many gentlemen of taste and
learning, he had no opportunity of appealing to their opinion, or
guiding himself by their advice. Amidst the hurry of life, and the
various pursuits in which all are engaged, how could he hope that any
one would be at leisure to attend to the doubts, the difficulties, and
minute niceties, which must inevitably occur in a writer of so
peculiar a genius as Tacitus? He was unwilling to be a troublesome
visitor, and, by consequence, has been obliged, throughout the whole
of his work, to trust to his own judgement, such as it is. He spared
no pains to do all the justice in his power to one of the greatest
writers of antiquity; but whether he has toiled with fruitless
industry, or has in any degree succeeded, must be left to the
judgement of others.
He is now at the end of his labours, and ready, after the example of
Montesquieu, to cry out with the voyager in Virgil, _Italiam!
Italian!_ But whether he is to land on a peaceful shore; whether the
men who delight in a wreck, are to rush upon him with hostile pens,
which in their hands are pitch-forks; whether his cargo is to be
condemned, and he himself to be wounded, maimed, and lacerated; a
little time will discover. Such critics will act as their nature
prompts them. Should they _cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war_,
it may be said,
Quod genus hoc hominum, quæve hunc tam barbara morem
Permittit patria? Hospitio prohibemur arenæ;
Bella cient, primâque vetant consistere terrâ.
This, they may say, is anticipating complaint; but, in the worst that
can happen, it is the only complaint this writer will ever make, and
the only answer they will ever receive from his pen.
It is from a very different quarter that the translator of Tacitus
waits for solid criticism. The men, as Pliny observes, who read with
malignity, are not the only judges. _Neque enim soli judicant, qui
malignè legunt._ The scholar will see defects, but he will pronounce
with temper: he will know the difficulty, and, in some cases, perhaps
the impossibility, of giving in our language the sentiments of Tacitus
with the precision and energy of the original; and, upon the whole, he
will acknowledge that an attempt to make a considerable addition to
English literature, carries with it a plea of some merit. While the
French could boast of having many valuable translations of Tacitus,
and their most eminent authors were still exerting themselves, with
emulation, to improve upon their predecessors, the present writer saw,
with regret, that this country had not so much as one translation
which could be read, without disgust, by any person acquainted with
the idiom and structure of our language. To supply the deficiency has
been the ambition of the translator. He persevered with ardour; but,
his work being finished, ardour subsides, and doubt and anxiety take
their turn. Whatever the event may be, the conscious pleasure of
having employed his time in a fair endeavour will remain with him.
For the rest, he submits his labours to the public; and, at that
tribunal, neither flushed with hope, nor depressed by fear, he is
prepared, with due acquiescence, to receive a decision, which, from
his own experience on former occasions, he has reason to persuade
himself will be founded in truth and candour.
GEOGRAPHICAL TABLE:
OR,
INDEX OF THE NAMES OF PLACES, RIVERS, &c. MENTIONED IN THESE VOLUMES.
A.
ACHAIA, often taken for part of Peloponnesus, but in Tacitus generally
for all Greece.
ACTIUM, a promontory of Epirus, now called the _Cape of Tigolo_,
famous for the victory of Augustus over M. Antony.
ADDUA, a river rising in the country of the _Grisons_, and in its
course separating Milan from the territory of the Venetians, till it
falls into the Po, about six miles to the west of Cremona. It is now
called the _Adda_.
ADIABENE, a district of Assyria, so called from the river Adiaba;
_Adiabeni_, the people.
ADRANA, now the _Eder_; a river that flows near _Waldeck_, in the
landgravate of _Hesse_, and discharges itself into the _Weser_.
ADRIATIC, now the gulf of Venice.
ADRUMETUM, a Phœnician colony in Africa, about seventeen miles from
Leptis Minor.
ÆDUI, a people of Ancient Gaul, near what is now called _Autun_, in
Lower Burgundy.
ÆGEÆ, a maritime town of Cilicia; now _Aias Kala_.
ÆGEAN SEA, a part of the Mediterranean which lies between Greece and
Asia Minor; now the _Archipelago_.
ÆGIUM, a city of Greece, in the Peloponnesus; now the _Morea_.
ÆNUS, a river rising in the country of the _Grisons_, and running
thence into the Danube.
ÆQUI, a people of Ancient Latium.
AFRICA generally means in Tacitus that part which was made a
proconsular province, of which Carthage was the capital; now the
territory of _Tunis_.
AGRIPPINENSIS COLONIA, so called from Agrippina, the daughter of
Germanicus, mother of Nero, and afterwards wife of the emperor
Claudius. This place is now called _Cologne_, situate on the Rhine.
ALBA, a town of Latium, in Italy, the residence of the Alban kings;
destroyed by Tullus Hostilius.
ALBANIA, a country of Asia, bounded on the west by Iberia, on the east
by the Caspian Sea, on the south by Armenia, and on the north by Mount
Caucasus.
ALBINGANUM; now _Albinga_, to the west of the territory of Genoa, at
the mouth of the river _Cente_.
ALBIS, now the _Elbe_; a river that rises in the confines of
_Silesia_, and, after a wide circuit, falls into the German sea below
_Hamburgh_.
ALBIUM INTEMELIUM; now _Vintimiglia_, south-west of the territory of
Genoa, with a port on the Mediterranean, between _Monaco_ and _S.
Remo_.
ALESIA, a town in Celtic Gaul, situate on a hill. It was besieged by
Julius Cæsar. See his Commentaries, lib. vii. s. 77.
ALEXANDRIA, a principal city of Egypt, built by Alexander the Great,
on the Mediterranean; famous for the library begun by Ptolemy
Philadelphus, and consisting at last of seven hundred thousand
volumes, till in Cæsar's expedition it was destroyed by fire.
ALISO, a fort built by Drusus, the father of Germanicus, in the part
of Germany now called Westphalia, near the city of _Paderborn_.
ALLIA, river of Italy, running into the Tiber, about forty miles from
Rome; famous for the slaughter of the Romans by the Gauls, under
Brennus.
ALLOBROGES, a people of Narbon Gaul, situate between the Rhodanus and
the Lacus Lemanus.
ALPS, a range of high mountains separating Italy from Gaul and
Germany. They are distinguished into different parts, under several
names: such as the _Maritime Alps_, near Genoa; the _Cottian Alps_,
separating Dauphiné from Piedmont; the _Graian Alps_, beginning from
Mount Cenis, where the _Cottian_ terminate, and extending to Great St.
Bernard; the _Pennine Alps_, extending from west to east to the
_Rhetian Alps_, the _Alpes Noricæ_, and the _Pannonian Alps_, as far
as the springs of the _Kulpe_. Their height in some places is almost
incredible. They are called _Alps_, from _Alpen_, a Celtic term for
high mountains.
ALTINUM, a town in the territory of Venice, on the Adriatic; now in
ruins, except a tower, still retaining the name of _Altino_.
AMANUS, a mountain of Syria, separating it from Cilicia; now called
_Montagna Neros_ by the inhabitants; that is, the watery mountain,
abounding in springs and rivulets.
AMATHUS, a maritime town of Cyprus, consecrated to Venus, with an
ancient temple of Adonis and Venus: it is now called _Limisso_.
AMAZONIA, a country near the river Thermodon, in Pontus.
AMISIA, now the _Ems_; a river of Germany that falls into the German
sea, near Embden.
AMORGOS, an island in the Egean sea, now Amorgo.
AMYDIS, a town near the gulf of that name, on the coast of Latium in
Italy.
ANAGNIA, a town of ancient Latium, now _Anagni_, thirty-six miles to
the east of Rome.
ANCONA, a port town in Italy, situate on the gulf of Venice.
ANDECAVI, now _Anjou_.
ANEMURIUM, a promontory of Cilicia, with a maritime town of the same
name near it. See Pomponius Mela.
ANGRIVARIANS, a German people, situate on the west side of the Weser,
near _Osnaburg_ and _Minden_.
ANSIBARII, a people of Germany.
ANTIOCH, or ANTIOCHIA, the capital of Syria, called _Epidaphne_, to
distinguish it from other cities of the name of Antioch. It is now
called _Antakia_.
ANTIPOLIS, now _Antibes_, on the coast of Provence, about three
leagues to the west of _Nice_.
ANTIUM, a city of the ancient Volsci, situate on the Tuscan Sea; the
birth-place of Nero. Two Fortunes were worshipped there, which
Suetonius calls _Fortunæ Antiates_, and Martial, _Sorores Antii_.
Horace's Ode to Fortune is well known--
_O Diva gratum quæ regis Antium._
The place is now called _Capo d'Anzo_.
ANTONA, now the _Avon_. See Camden.
AORSI, a people inhabiting near the Palus Mæotis; now the eastern part
of Tartary, between the _Neiper_ and the _Don_.
APAMEA, a city of Phrygia, near the banks of the Mæander; now
_Aphiom-Kara-Hisar_.
APENNINUS, now the _Apennine_, a ridge of mountains running through
the middle of Italy, extremely high, yet short of the _Alps_. Its name
is Celtic, signifying a high mountain.
APHRODISIUM, a town of _Caria_ in Thrace, on the Euxine.
APOLLONIDIA, a city of Lydia.
APULIA, a territory of Italy, along the gulf of Venice; now
_Capitanate, Otranto_, &c.
AQUILEIA, a large city of the Veneti, and formerly a Roman colony,
near the river _Natiso_, which runs into the gulf of Venice.
AQUINUM, a town of the Ancient Latins; now _Aquino_, but almost in
ruins.
AQUITANIA, a division of Ancient Gaul, bounded by the _Garumna_ (now
_Garonne_), by the Pyrenees, and the ocean.
ARABIA, an extensive country of Asia, reaching from Egypt to Chaldea.
It is divided into three parts, _Arabia Petræa_, _Deserta_, and
_Felix_.
ARAR, or ARARIS, a river of Gaul; now the _Saone_.
ARAXES, a river of Mesopotamia, which runs from north to south, and
falls into the Euphrates.
ARBELA, a city of Assyria, famous for the battle between Alexander and
Darius.
ARCADIA, an inland district in the heart of Peloponnesus; mountainous,
and only fit for pasture; therefore celebrated by bucolic or pastoral
poets.
ARDEN, _Arduenna_, in Tacitus; the forest of Arden.
ARENACUM, an ancient town in the island of Batavia; now _Arnheim_, in
Guelderland.
ARICIA, a town of Latium in Italy, at the foot of Mons Albanus, about
a hundred and sixty stadia from Rome. The grove, called _Aricinum
Nemus_, was in the vicinity.
ARII, a people of Asia.
ARIMINUM, a town of Umbria, at the mouth of the river Ariminus, on the
gulf of Venice.
ARMENIA, a kingdom of Asia, having Albania and Iberia to the north,
and Mount Taurus and Mesopotamia to the south: divided into the
GREATER, which extends astward to the Caspian Sea; and the LESSER, to
the west of the GREATER, and separated from it by the Euphrates; now
called _Turcomania_.
ARNUS, a river of Tuscany, which visits Florence in its course, and
falls into the sea near Pisa.
ARSANIAS, a river of the GREATER ARMENIA, running between Tigranocerta
and Artaxata, and falling into the Euphrates.
ARTAXATA, the capital of Armenia, situate on the river Araxes.
ARVERNI, a people of Ancient Gaul, inhabiting near the Loire; their
chief city _Arvernum_ now _Clermont_, the capital of _Auvergne_.
ASCALON, an ancient city of the Philistines, situate on the
Mediterranean; now _Scalona_.
ASCIBURGIUM, a citadel on the Rhine, where the Romans stationed a camp
and a garrison.
ATESTE, a town in the territory of Venice, situate to the south of
Patavium.
ATRIA, a town of the Veneti, on the river Tartarus, between the Padus
and the Athesis, now the _Adige_.
AUGUSTA TAURINORUM, a town of the Taurini, at the foot of the Alps;
now _Turin_, the capital of _Piedmont_.
AUGUSTODUNUM, the capital of the Ædui; now _Autun_, in the duchy of
Burgundy. It took its name from Augustus Cæsar.
AURIA, an ancient town of Spain; now _Orense_, in Galicia.
AUZEA, a strong castle in Mauritania.
AVENTICUM, the capital of the Helvetii; by the Germans called
_Wiflisburg_, by the French _Avenches_.
B.
BACTRIANI, a people inhabiting a part of Asia, to the south of the
river _Oxus_, which rains from east to west into the Caspian Sea.
BAIÆ, a village of Campania, between the promontory of Misenum and
Puteoli (now _Pozzuolo_), nine miles to the west of Naples.
BALEARES, a cluster of islands in the Mediterranean, of which
_Majorca_ and _Minorca_ are the chief.
BASTARNI, a people of Germany, who led a wandering life in the vast
regions between the Vistula and the Pontic sea.
BATAVIA, an island formed by two branches of the Rhine and the German
sea. See Annals, book ii. s. 6; and Manners of the Germans, s. 29.
note a.
BATAVODURUM, a town in the island of Batavia; now, as some of the
commentators say, _Wyk-te-Duurstede_.
BEBRYACUM, or BEDRYACUM, a village situate between Verona and Cremona;
famous for two successive defeats; that of Otho, and soon after that
of Vitellius.
BELGIC GAUL, the country between the Seine and the Marne to the west,
the Rhine to the east, and the German sea to the north.
BERYTUS, now _Barut_, in Phœnicia.
BETASII, the people inhabiting the country now called _Brabant_.
BITHYNIA, a proconsular province of Asia Minor, bounded on the north
by the Euxine and the Propontic, adjoining to Troas, over-against
Thrace; now _Becsangial_.
BŒTICA, one of the provinces into which Augustus Cæsar divided the
Farther Spain.
BOII, a people of Celtic Gaul, in the country now called Bourbonnois.
There was also a nation of the same name in Germany. See Manners of
the Germans, s. 28.
BONNA, now _Bonn_, in the electorate of _Cologne_.
BONONIA, called by Tacitus _Bononiensis_; now _Bologna_, capital of
the _Bolognese_ in Italy.
BOSPHORANI, a people bordering on the Euxine; the _Tartars_.
BOSPHORUS, two straits of the sea so called; one _Bosphorus Thracius_,
now _the straits of Constantinople_; the other _Bosphorus Cimmerius_,
now _the straits of Caffa_.
BOVILLÆ, a town of Latium, near Mount Albanus; about ten miles from
Rome, on the Appian Road.
BRIGANTES, the ancient inhabitants of _Yorkshire_, _Lancashire_,
_Durham_, _Westmoreland_, and _Cumberland_.
BRIXELLUM, the town where Otho dispatched himself after the defeat at
_Bedriacum_; now _Bresello_, in the territory of _Reggio_.
BRIXIA, a town of Italy, on this side of the Po; now _Brescia_.
BRUCTERIANS, a people of Germany, situate in Westphalia. See the
Manners of the Germans, s. 33. note a.
BRUNDUSIUM, a town of Calabria, with an excellent harbour, at the
entrance of the Adriatic, affording to the Romans a commodious passage
to Greece. The Via Appia ended at this town. Now _Brindisi_, in the
territory of _Otranto_, in the kingdom of Naples.
BYZANTIUM, a city of Thrace, on the narrow strait that separates
Europe from Asia; now _Constantinople_. See Annals, xii. s. 63.
C.
CÆLALETÆ, a people of Thrace, near Mount Hæmus.
CÆRACATES, probably the diocese of _Mayence_.
CÆSAREA, a maritime town in Palestine; now _Kaisarié_.
CÆSIAN FOREST, now the Forest of _Heserwaldt_, in the duchy of Cleves.
It is supposed to be a part of the Hercynian Forest.
CALABRIA, a peninsula of Italy, between Tarentum and Brundusium; now
the territory of Otranto, in the kingdom of Naples.
CAMELODUNUM, said by some to be _Malden_ in Essex, but by Camden, and
others, _Colchester_. It was made a Roman colony under the emperor
Claudius; a place of pleasure rather than of strength, adorned with
splendid works, a theatre, and a temple of Claudius.
CAMERIUM, a city in the territory of the Sabines; now destroyed.
CAMPANIA, a territory of Italy, bounded on the west by the Tuscan sea.
The most fertile and delightful part of Italy; now called _Terra di
Lavoro_.
CANGI, the inhabitants of Cheshire, and part of Lancashire.
CANINEFATES, a people of the Lower Germany, from the same origin as
the Batavians, and inhabitants of the west part of the isle of
Batavia.
CANOPUS, a city of the Lower Egypt, situate on a branch of the Nile
called by the same name.
CAPPADOCIA, a large country in Asia Minor, between Cilicia the Euxine
sea. Being made a Roman province, the inhabitants had an offer made
them of a free and independent government; but their answer was,
Liberty might suit the Romans, but the Cappadocians would neither
receive liberty, nor endure it.
CAPREA, an island on the coast of Campania, about four miles in length
from east to west, and about one in breadth. It stands opposite to the
promontory of _Surrentum_, and has the bay of Naples in view. It was
the residence of Tiberius for several years.
CAPUA, now _Capoa_, a city in the kingdom of Naples; the seat of
pleasure, and the ruin of Hannibal.
CARMEL, a mountain in Galilee, on the Mediterranean.
CARSULÆ, a town of Umbria, about twenty miles from Mevania; now in
ruins.
CARTHAGO, once the most famous city of Africa, and the rival of Rome;
supposed by some to have been built by queen Dido, seventy years after
the foundation of Rome; but Justin will have it before Rome. It was
the capital of what is now the kingdom of _Tunis_.
CARTHAGO NOVA, a town of _Hispania Tarraconensis_, or the Hither
Spain; now _Carthagena_.
CASPIAN SEA, a vast lake between Persia, Great Tartary, Muscovy and
Georgia, said to be six hundred miles long, and near as broad.
CASSIOPE, a town in the island of Corcyra (now _Corfou_), called at
present _St. Maria di Cassopo_.
CATTI, a people of Germany, who inhabited part of the country now
called _Hesse_, from the mountains of _Hartz_, to the Weser and the
Rhine.
CAUCI. See CHAUCI.
CELENDRIS, a place on the coast of Cilicia, near the confines of
Pamphylia.
CENCHRIÆ, a port of Corinth, situate about ten miles towards the east;
now _Kenkri_.
CENCHRIS, a river running through the Ortygian Grove.
CEREINA, an island in the Mediterranean, to the north of the Syrtis
Minor in Africa; now called _Kerkeni_.
CHALCEDON, a city of Bithynia, situate at the mouth of the Euxine,
over-against Byzantium. It was called the _City of the Blind_. See
Annals, xii. s. 63.
CHAUCI, a people of Germany, inhabiting what we now call _East
Friesland_, _Bremen_, and _Lunenburg_. See Manners of the Germans, s.
35.
CHERUSCANS, a great and warlike people of Ancient Germany, to the
north of the _Catti_, between the _Elbe_ and the _Weser_.
CIBYRA, formerly a town of Phrygia, near the banks of the Mæander, but
now destroyed.
CILICIA, an extensive country in the Hither Asia, bounded by Mount
Taurus to the north, by the Mediterranean to the south, by Syria to
the east, and by Pamphylia to the west. It was one of the provinces
reserved for the management of the emperor.
CINITHIANS, a people of Africa.
CIRRHA, a town of Phocis, near Delphi, sacred to Apollo.
CIRRHUS, a town of Syria, in the district of Commagene, and not far
from Antioch.
CIRTA, formerly the capital of Numidia, and the residence of the king.
It is now called _Constantina_, in the kingdom of Algiers.
CLITÆ, a people of Cilicia, near Mount Taurus.
CLUNIA, a city in the Hither Spain.
COLCHOS, a country of Asia, on the east of the Euxine, famous for the
fable of the Golden Fleece, the Argonautic Expedition, and the Fair
Enchantress, Medea.
COLOPHON, a city of Ionia, in the Hither Asia. One of the places that
claimed the birth of Homer; now destroyed.
COMMAGENE, a district of Syria, bounded on the east by the Euphrates,
on the west by Amanus, and on the north by Mount Taurus.
COOS. See Cos.
CORCYRA, an island in the Adriatic; now _Corfou_.
CORINTHUS, a city of Achaia, on the south part of the isthmus which
joins Peloponnesus to the continent. From its situation between two
seas, Horace says,
_Bimarisve Corinthi mœnia._
The city was taken and burnt to the ground by Mummius the Roman
general, A.U.C. 608. It was afterwards restored to its ancient
splendour, and made a Roman colony. It retains the name of _Corinth_.
CORMA, a river in Asia; mentioned by Tacitus only.
CORSICA, an island in the part of the Mediterranean called the Sea of
Liguria, in length from north to south about a hundred and fifty
miles, and about fifty where broadest. To the south it is separated
from Sardinia by a narrow channel.
COS, or COOS, one of the islands called the Cyclades, in the Ægean
sea, famous for being the birth-place of Apelles; now _Stan Co_.
COSA, a promontory of Etruria; now _Mont Argentaro_, in Tuscany.
CREMERA, a river of Tuscany, falling into the Tiber a little to the
north of Rome, rendered famous by the slaughter of the Fabii.
CREMONA, a city of Italy, built A.U.C. 536, and afterwards, in the
year 822, rased to the ground by the army of Vespasian, in the war
with Vitellius. It was soon rebuilt by the citizens, with the
exhortations of Vespasian. It is now a flourishing city in the duchy
of Milan, and retains the name of Cremona.
CUMÆ, a town of Campania, near Cape Misenum, famous for the cave of
the Cumæan Sibyl.
CUSUS, a river in Hungary, that falls into the Danube.
CYCLADES, a cluster of islands in the Ægean sea, so called from
_Cyclus_, the orb in which they lie. Their names and number are not
ascertained. Strabo reckons sixteen.
CYME, a maritime town of Æolia in Asia.
CYPRUS, a noble island opposite to the coast of Syria, formerly sacred
to Venus, whence she was called the Cyprian goddess.
CYRENE (now called _Curin_), the capital of Cyrenaica, a district of
Africa, now the _Desert of Barca_. It stood about eleven miles from
the sea, and had an excellent harbour.
CYTHERA, an island situated on the coast of Peloponnesus formerly
sacred to Venus, and thence her name of _Cytherea_. The island is now
called _Cerigo_.
CYTHNUS, one of the islands called the Cyclades, in the Ægean Sea.
CYZICUS, a city of Mysia, in the Hither Asia, rendered famous by the
long siege of Mithridates, which at last was raised by Lucullus.
D.
DACIA, a country extending between the Danube and the Carpathian
mountains to the mouth of the Danube, and to the Euxine, comprising a
part of Upper Hungary, Transylvania, and Moldavia. The inhabitants to
the west, towards Germany, were called _Daci_; those to the east
towards the Euxine were called _Getæ_. The whole country was reduced
by Trajan to a Roman province.
DAHÆ, a people of Scythia, to the south of the Caspian, with the
Massagetæ on the east. Virgil calls them _indomitique Dahæ_.
DALMATIA, an extensive country bordering on Macedonia and Mæsia, and
having the Adriatic to the south.
DANDARIDÆ, a people bordering on the Euxine. Brotier says that some
vestiges of the nation, and its name, still exist at a place called
_Dandars_.
DANUBE, the largest river in Europe. It rises in Suabia, and after
visiting Bavaria, Austria, Hungary, and taking thence a prodigious
circuit, falls at last into the Black or Euxine sea. See Manners of
the Germans, s. 1. note g.
DELOS, the central island of the Cyclades, famous in mythology for the
birth of Apollo and Diana.
DELPHI, a famous inland town of Phocis in Greece, with a temple and
oracle of Apollo, situate near the foot of Mount Parnassus.
DENTHELIATE LANDS, a portion of the Peloponnesus that lay between
Laconia and Messenia; often disputed by those states.
DERMONA, a river of Gallia Transpadana; it runs into the Ollius (now
_Oglio_), and through that channel into the Po.
DIVODURUM, a town in Gallia Belgica, situate on the Moselle, on the
spot where _Metz_ now stands.
DONUSA, or DONYSA, an island in the Ægean sea, not far from _Naxos_.
Virgil has, _Bacchatamque jugis Naxon, viridemque Donysam_.
DYRRACHIUM, a town on the coast of Illyricum. Its port answered to
that of Brundusium, affording a convenient passage to Italy.
E.
ECBATANA, the capital of Media; now _Hamedan_.
EDESSA, a town of Mesopotamia; now _Orrhoa_, or _Orfa_.
ELEPHANTINE, an island in the Nile, not far from Syene; at which last
place stood the most advanced Roman garrison, _Notitia Imperii_.
ELEUSIS, a district of Attica near the sea-coast, sacred to Ceres,
where the Eleusinian mysteries were performed; now in ruins.
ELYMÆI, a people bordering on the gulf of Persia.
EMERITA, a city of Spain; now _Merida_ in the province of
_Estramadoura_.
EPHESUS, an ancient and celebrated city of Ionia, in Asia Minor; now
_Efeso_. It was the birth-place of Heraclitus, the weeping
philosopher.
EPIDAPHNE, a town in Syria, not far from Antioch.
EPOREDIA, a town at the foot of the Alps, afterwards a Roman colony;
now _Jurea_, or _Jura_, a city of Piedmont.
ERINDE, a river of Asia, mentioned by Tacitus only.
ERITHRÆ, a maritime town of Ionia, in Asia Minor.
ETRURIA, a district of Italy, extending from the boundary of Liguria
to the Tiber; now _Tuscany_.
EUBŒA, an island near the coast of _Attica_; now _Negropont_.
EUPHRATES, a river of Asia, universally allowed to take its rise in
Armenia Major. It divides into two branches, one running through
Babylon, and the other through Seleucia. It bounds Mesopotamia on the
west.
EUXINE, or PONTUS EUXINUS; now the Black Sea.
F.
FERENTINUM, a town of Latium, in Italy; now _Ferentino_, in the
Campania of Rome.
FERENTUM, a town of Etruria; now _Ferenti_.
FERONIA, a town in Etruria.
FIDENÆ, a small town in the territory of the Sabines, about six miles
to the north of Rome. The place where the ruins of Fidenæ are seen, is
now called _Castello Giubileo_.
FLAMMINIAN WAY, made by Flamminius A.U.C. 533, from Rome to
_Ariminum_, a town of Umbria, or Romana, at the mouth of the river
Ariminus, on the gulf of Venice. It is now called _Rimini_.
FLEVUS, a branch of the Rhine, that emptied itself into the lakes
which have been long since absorbed by the _Zuyderzee_. A castle,
called _Flevum Castellum_, was built there by Drusus, the father of
Germanicus.
FORMIÆ, a maritime town of Italy, to the south-east of _Cajeta_. The
ruins of the place are still visible.
FOROJULIUM. See FORUM JULIUM.
FORUM ALLIENI, now _Ferrare_, on the Po.
FORUM JULIUM, a Roman colony in Gaul, founded by Julius Cæsar, and
completed by Augustus, with a harbour at the mouth of the river
_Argens_, capable of receiving a large fleet. The ruins of two moles
at the entrance of the harbour are still to be seen. See Life of
Agricola, s. 4. note a. The place is now called _Frejus_.
FRISII, the ancient inhabitants of _Friesland_. See Manners of the
Germans.
FUNDANI MONTES, now _Fondi_, a city of Naples, on the confines of the
Pope's dominions.
G.
GABII, a town of Latium, between Rome and Preneste. A particular
manner of tucking up the gown, adopted by the Roman consuls when they
declared war or attended a sacrifice, was called _Cinctus Gabinus_.
The place now extinct.
GÆTULI, a people of Africa, bordering on Mauritania.
GALATIA, or GALLOGRÆCIA, a country of Asia Minor, lying between
_Cappadocia, Pontus_, and _Pophlagonia_; now called _Chiangare_.
GALILÆA, the northern part of Canaan, or Palestine, bounded on the
north by _Phœnicia_, on the south by _Samaria_, on the east by the
_Jordan_, and on the west by the _Mediterranean_.
GALLIA, the country of ancient Gaul, now _France_. It was divided by
the Romans into _Gallia Cisalpina_, viz. Gaul on the Italian side of
the Alps, with the _Rubicon_ for its boundary to the south. It was
also called _Gallia Togata_, from the use made by the inhabitants of
the Roman _Toga_. It was likewise called _Gallia Transpadana_, or
_Cispadana_, with respect to Rome. The second great division of Gaul
was _Gallia Transalpina_, or _Ulterior_, being, with respect to Rome,
on the other side of the Alps. It was also called _Gallia Comata_,
from the people wearing their hair long, which the Romans wore short.
The southern part was GALLIA NARBONENSIS, _Narbon Gaul_, called
likewise _Braccata_, from the use of _braccæ_, or breeches, which were
no part of the Roman dress; now _Languedoc_, _Dauphiny_, and
_Provence_. For the other divisions of Gaul on this side of the Alps,
into the _Gallia Belgica, Celtica, Aquitanica_, further subdivided by
Augustus, see the Manners of the Germans, s. 1. note a.
GARAMANTES, a people in the interior part of Africa, extending over a
vast tract of country at present little known.
GARIZIM, a mountain of Samaria, famous for a temple built on it by
permission of Alexander the Great.
GELDUBA, not far from Novesium (now _Nuys_, in the electorate of
Cologne) on the west side of the Rhine.
GEMONIÆ, a place at Rome, into which were thrown the bodies of
malefactors.
GERMANIA, Ancient Germany, bounded on the east by the Vistula (the
_Weissel_), on the north by the Ocean, on the west by the Rhine, and
on the south by the Danube. A great part of Gaul, along the west side
of the Rhine, was also called Germany by Augustus Cæsar, _Germania
Cisrhenana_, and by him distinguished into _Upper_ and _Lower
Germany_.
GOTHONES, a people of ancient Germany, who inhabited part of Poland,
and bordered on the Vistula.
GRAIAN ALPS, Graiæ Alpes, supposed to be so called from the Greeks who
settled there. See ALPS.
GRINNES, a town of the Batavi, on the right side of the Vahalis (now
the _Waal_), in the territory of Utrecht.
GUGERNI, a people originally from Germany, inhabiting part of the
duchy of Cleves and Gueldre, between the Rhine and the Meuse.
GYARUS, one of the islands called the _Cyclades_, rendered famous by
being allotted for the banishment of Roman citizens. Juvenal says,
_Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris, et carcere dignum, si vis esse
aliquis._
H.
HÆMUS, MOUNT, a ridge of mountains running from Illyricum towards the
Euxine sea; now _Mont Argentaro_.
HÆMONADENSIANS, a people bordering on Cilicia.
HALICARNASSUS, the capital of Caria, in Asia Minor, famous for being
the birth-place of Herodotus and Dionysius, commonly called _Dionysius
Halicarnassensis_.
HELVETII, a people in the neighbourhood of the Allobroges, situate on
the south-west side of the Rhine, and separated from Gaul by the
Rhodanus and Lacus Lemanus.
HENIOCHIANS, a people dwelling near the Euxine Sea.
HERCULANEUM, a town of Campania, near Mount Vesuvius, swallowed up by
an earthquake. Several antiquities have been lately dug out of the
ruins.
HERCYNIAN FOREST: in the time of Julius Cæsar, the breadth could not
be traversed in less than nine days; and after travelling lengthways
for sixty days, no man reached the extremity. Cæsar, De Bell. Gal.
lib. vi. s. 29.
HERMUNDURI, a people of Germany, in part of what is now called Upper
Saxony, bounded on the north by the river _Sala_, on the east by the
_Elbe_, and on the south by the _Danube_.
HIERO-CÆSAREA, a city in Lydia, famous for a temple to the Persian
Diana, supposed to have been built by Cyrus.
HISPALIS, a town of Bœtica in the Farther Spain; now _Seville_ in
_Andalusia_.
HISPANIA, Spain, otherwise called _Iberia_, from the river _Iberus_.
It has the sea on every side except that next to _Gaul_, from which it
is separated by the _Pyrenees_. During the time of the republic, the
whole country was divided into two provinces, _Ulterior_ and
_Citerior_, the _Farther_ and _Hither_ Spain. Augustus divided the
Farther Spain into two provinces; _Bœtica_, and _Lusitania_. The
Hither Spain he called _Tarraconensis_, and then Spain was formed into
three provinces; _Bœtica_, under the management of the senate; and the
other two reserved for officers appointed by the prince.
HOSTILIA, a village on the Po: now _Ostiglia_, in the neighbourhood of
Cremona.
HYPÆPA, a small city in _Lydia_, now rased to the ground.
HYRCANIA, a country of the Farther Asia, to the east of the Caspian
Sea, with Media on the west, and Parthia on the south; famous for its
tigers. There was a city of the same name in Lydia.
I.
IBERIA, an inland country of Asia, bounded by Mount Caucasus on the
north, by Albania on the cast, by Colchis and part of Pontus on the
west, and by Armenia on the south. Spain was also called Iberia, from
the river Iberus; now the _Ebro_.
IBERUS, a noble river of the Hither Spain; now the _Ebro_.
ICENI, a people of Britain; now _Essex, Suffolk_, and _Norfolk_.
ILIUM, another name for ancient Troy. A new city, nearer to the sea,
was built after the famous siege of Troy, and made a Roman colony.
But, as was said of the old city, _Etiam periere ruinæ_.
ILLYRICUM, the country between Pannonia to the north, and the Adriatic
to the south. It is now comprised by _Dalmatia_ and _Sclavonia_, under
the respective dominion of the Venetians and the Turks.
INSUBRIA, a country of Gallia Cisalpina; now the _Milanese_.
INTEMELIUM. See ALBIUM INTEMELIUM.
INTERAMNA, an ancient town of the Volsci in Latium, not far from the
river Liris. It is now in ruins.
IONIAN SEA, the sea that washes the western coast of Greece, opposite
to the gulf of Venice.
ISICHI, a people bordering on the Euxine, towards the east.
ISTRIA, an island in the gulf of Venice, still retaining its ancient
name. There was also a town of the same name near the mouth of the
Ister, on the Euxine Sea.
ITURÆA, a _Transjordan_ district of Palestine, now _Bacar_.
J.
JAPHA, a strong place, both by nature and art, in the Lower Galilee,
not far from _Jotapata_; now _Saphet_.
JAZYGES, a people of Sarmatia Europæa, situate on this side of the
Palus Mæotis, near the territory of Maroboduus, the German king.
JUGANTES, said by Camden to be the same as the _Brigantes_, but
Brotier thinks it probable that they were a distinct, people.
L.
LACUS LEMANUS, now the _Lake of Geneva_.
LANGOBARDI, a people of Germany, between the _Elbe_ and the _Oder_, in
part of what is now called _Brandenburg_.
LANUVIUM, a town of Latium, about sixteen miles from Rome; now _Civita
Lavinia_.
LAODICEA, a town of Phrygia, called, to distinguish it from other
cities of the same name, _Laodicea ad Lycum_. Spon, in his account of
his travels, says it is rased to the ground, except four theatres
built, with marble, finely polished, and in as good condition as if
they were modern structures; now called _Ladik_.
LAODICEA AD MARE, a considerable town on the coast of Syria, well
built, with a commodious harbour.
LATIUM, the country of the Latini, so called from king Latinus;
contained at first within narrow bounds, but greatly enlarged under
the Alban kings and the Roman consuls, by the accession of the Æqui,
Volsci, Hernici, &c.
LECHÆUM, the west port of Corinth, which the people used for their
Italian trade, as they did _Cenchræ_ for their eastern or Asiatic.
LEPTIS, there were in Africa two ancient cities of the name, _Leptis
magna_, and _Leptis parva_. The first (now called _Lebeda_) was in the
territory of Tripoli; the second, a town on the Mediterranean, not far
from Carthage.
LESBOS, an island in the Egean Sea, near the coast of Asia; the
birth-place of Sappho: now called _Metelin_.
LEUCI, a people of Gallia Belgica, to the north of the Lingones,
between the Moselle and the Meuse.
LIBYA, the name given by the Greeks to all Africa; but, properly
speaking, it was an interior part of Africa.
LIGERIS; now the _Loire_.
LIGURIA, a country of Italy, divided into the maritime, _Ligus Ora_;
and the inland _Liguria_; both between the Apennine to the south, the
Maritime Alps to the west, and the Po to the north. It contained what
is now called _Ferrara_, and the _territories of Genoa_.
LINGONES, a people of Gallia Belgica, inhabiting the country about
_Langres_ and _Dijon_.
LONGOBARDI, or LANGOBORDI, a people of Germany, between the Elbe and
the Oder. See Manners of the Germans, s. 40 note a.
LUCANIA, a country of ancient Italy; now called the _Basilicate_.
LUGDUNUM, a city of ancient Gaul; now _Lyons_.
LUGDUNUM BATAVORUM, a town of the Batavi, now _Leyden_ in Holland.
There was another town of the name in Gallia Celtica, at the
confluence of the Arar (the _Saone_) and the Rhodanus (the _Rhone_).
The place is now called Lyons.
LUPPIA, a river of Westphalia; now the _Lippe_.
LUSITANIA, now the kingdom of _Portugal_, on the west of Spain,
formerly a part of it.
LYCIA, a country in Asia Minor, bounded by Pamphylia, Phrygia, and the
Mediterranean.
LYDIA, an inland country of Asia Minor, formerly governed by Crœsus;
now _Carasia_.
LYGII, an ancient people of Germany, who inhabited the country now
called _Silesia_, and also part of _Poland_.
M.
MACEDONIA, a large country, rendered famous by Philip of Macedon and
his son Alexander; now a province of the Turkish empire, bounded by
Servia and Bulgaria to the north, by Greece to the south, by Thrace
and the Archipelago to the east, and by Epirus to the west.
MÆOTIS PALUS, a lake of Sarmatia Europæa, still known by the same
name, and reaching from Crim Tartary to the mouth of the _Tanais_ (the
_Don_).
MÆSIA, a district of the ancient Illyricum, bordering on Pannonia,
containing what is now called _Bulgaria_, and part of _Servia_.
MAGNESIA: there were anciently three cities of the name; one in Ionia,
on the Mæander, which, it is said, was given to Themistocles by
Artaxerxes, with these words, _to furnish his table with bread_; it is
now called _Guzel-Hissard_, in Asiatic Turkey: the second was at the
foot of Mount Sipylus, in Lydia; but has been destroyed by
earthquakes: the third Magnesia was a maritime town of Thessaly, on
the Egean Sea.
MAGONTIACUM, a town of Gallia Belgica; now _Mentz_, situate at the
confluence of the Rhine and the Maine.
MARCODURUM, a village of Gallia Belgica; now _Duren_ on the _Roer_.
MARCOMANIANS, a people of Germany, between the Rhine, the Danube, and
the Neckar. They removed to the country of the Boii, and having
expelled the inhabitants, occupied the country now called _Bohemia_.
See Manners of the Germans, s. 42.
MARDI, a people of the Farther Asia, near the Caspian Sea.
MARITIME ALPS. See ALPS.
MARSACI, a people in the north of Batavia, inhabiting the sea-coast.
MARSI, a people of Italy, who dwelt round the Lacus Fucinus. Another
people called Marsi, in Germany, to the south of the Frisii, in the
country now called _Paderborne_ and _Munster_.
MASSILLIA, a town of Gallia Narbonensis, formerly celebrated for
polished manners and learning; now _Marseilles_, a port town of
Provence.
MATTIACI, a branch of the Catti in Germany. Their capital town was
MATTIUM, supposed now to be _Marpourg_ in _Hesse_.
MAURITANIA, a large region of Africa, extending from east to west
along the Mediterranean, divided by the emperor Claudius into
_Cæsariensis_, the eastern part, and _Tingitana_, the western. It had
Numidia to the east, and Getulia to the south; and was also bounded by
the Atlantic ocean, the straits of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean to
the north. The natives were called Mauri, and thence the name of
_Mauritania_; now _Barbary_.
MEDIA, a country of the Farther Asia, bounded on the west by Armenia,
on the east by Parthia, on the north by the Caspian Sea, on the south
by Persia. _Ecbatana_ was the capital.
MEDIOLANUM, now _Milan_ in Italy.
MEDIOMATRICI, a people of Gallia Belgica; now the diocese of _Metz_.
MELITENE, a city of Cappadocia.
MEMPHIS, a city of Egypt, famous for its pyramids.
MENAPII, a people of Belgia; now _Brabant_ and _Flanders_.
MESOPOTAMIA, a large country in the middle of Asia; so called, because
it lies, [Greek: mesae potamon], between two rivers, the Euphrates on
the west, and the Tigris on the east.
MESSENA, or MESSANA, an ancient and celebrated city of Sicily, on the
strait between that island and Italy. It still retains the name of
_Messina_.
MEVANIA, a town of Umbria, near the Clitumnus, a river that runs from
east to west into the Tiber.
MILETUS, an ancient city of Ionia, in Asia Minor; now totally
destroyed.
MILVIUS PONS, a bridge over the Tiber, at the distance of two miles
from Rome, on the _Via Flamminia_; now called _Ponte-Molle_.
MINTURNÆ, a town on the confines of Campania, near the river Liris.
MISENUM, a promontory of Campania, with a good harbour, near the
_Sinus Puteolanus_, or the bay of Naples, on the north side. It was
the station for the Roman fleets. Now _Capo di Miseno_.
MITYLENE, the capital city of the isle of Lesbos, and now gives name
to the whole island.
MONA, an island separated from the coast of the Ordovices by a narrow
strait, the ancient seat of the Druids. Now the isle of _Anglesey_.
MONÆCI PORTUS, now _Monaco_, a port town in the territory of _Genoa_.
MORINI, a people of Belgia, inhabiting the diocese of _Tournay_, and
the country about _St. Omer_ and _Boulogne_.
MOSA, a large river of Belgic Gaul; it receives a branch of the Rhine,
called _Vahalis_, and falls into the German Ocean below the Briel. It
is now the _Mæse_, or _Meuse_.
MOSELLA, a river, which, running through Lorrain, falls into the Rhine
at _Coblentz_, now called the _Moselle_.
MOSTENI, the common name of the people and their town on the river
Hermus, in Lydia.
MUSULANI, an independent savage people in Africa, on the confines of
Carthage, Numidia, and Mauritania.
MUTINA, now _Modena_, a city of Lombardy, in Italy.
MYRINA, a town of _Æolis_, or _Æolia_, in the Hither Asia; now
_Sanderlik_.
N.
NABALIA, the name of the channel made by Drusus from the Rhine to the
river Sala; now the _Ysell_. See Annals, ii. s. 8.
NABATHÆI, a people between the Euphrates and the Red Sea;
comprehending Arabia Petræa, and bounded by Palestine on the north.
NAR, a river which rises in Umbria, and, falling into the lake
_Velinus_, rushes thence with a violent and loud cascade, and empties
itself into the Tiber.
NARBON GAUL, the southern part of Gaul, bounded by the Pyrenees to the
west, the Mediterranean to the south, and the Alps and the Rhine to
the east.
NARNIA, a town of Umbria, on the river _Nar_; now _Narni_, in the
territory of the Pope.
NAUPORTUM, a town on a cognominal river in Pannonia.
NAVA, a river of Gallia Belgica, which runs north-east into the west
side of the Rhine; now the _Nahe_.
NAVARIA, now _Novara_, a city of Milan.
NEMETES, a people originally of Germany, removed to the diocese of
_Spire_, on the Rhine.
NICEPHORUS, a river of Asia that washes the walls of _Tigranocerta_,
and runs into the _Tigris_; _D'Anville_ says, now called _Khabour_.
NICOPOLIS: there were several towns of this name, viz. in Egypt,
Armenia, Bithynia, on the Euxine, &c. A town of the same name was
built by Augustus, on the coast of Epirus, as a monument of his
victory at Actium.
NINOS, the capital of _Assyria_; called also _Nineve_.
NISIBIS, a city of Mesopotamia, at this day called _Nesibin_.
NOLA, a city of Campania, on the north-east of Vesuvius. At this
place Augustus breathed his last: it retains its old name to this day.
NORICUM, a Roman province, bounded by the Danube on the north, by the
_Alpes Noricæ_ on the south, by Pannonia on the east, and Vindelicia
on the west; now containing a great part of Austria, Tyrol, Bavaria,
&c.
NOVESIUM, a town of the Ubii in Gallia Belgica; now _Nuys_, on the
west side of the Rhine, in the electorate of _Cologne_.
NUCERIA, a city of Campania; now _Nocera_.
NUMIDIA, a celebrated kingdom of Africa, bordering on Mauritania, and
bounded to the north by the Mediterranean; now _Algiers, Tunis,
Tripoli_, &c. the eastern part of the kingdom of _Algiers_. Syphax was
king of one part, and Masinissa of the other.
O.
OCRICULUM, a town of Umbria, near the confluence of the Nar and the
Tiber; now _Otricoli_, in the duchy of _Spoletto_.
ODRYSÆ, a people situated in the western part of Thrace, how a
province of European Turkey.
OEENSES, a people of Africa, who occupied the country between the two
Syrtes on the Mediterranean. Their city was called _Oea_, now
_Tripoli_.
OPITERGIUM, now _Oderzo_, in the territory of Venice.
ORDOVICES, a people who inhabited what we now call _Flintshire,
Denbighshire, Carnarvon_, and _Merionethshire_, in North Wales.
OSTIA, formerly a town of note, at the mouth of the Tiber (on the
south side), whence its name; at this day it lies in ruins.
P.
PADUS, anciently called _Eridanus_ by the Greeks, famous for the
fable of Phæton; it receives several rivers from the Alps and
Apennine, and, running from west to east, discharges itself into the
Adriatic. It is now called the Po.
PAGIDA, a river in Numidia; its modern name is not ascertained.
D'Anville thinks it is now called _Fissato_, in the territory of
_Tripoli_.
PALUS MÆOTIS; see MÆOTIS.
PAMPHYLIA, a country of the Hither Asia, bounded by Pisidia to the
north, and by the Mediterranean to the south.
PANDA, a river of Asia, in the territory of the _Siraci_; not well
known.
PANDATARIA, an island of the Tuscan Sea, in the Sinus Puteolanus (now
_il Golfo di Napoli_), the place of banishment for illustrious exiles,
viz. Julia the daughter of Augustus, Agrippina the wife of Germanicus,
Octavia the daughter of Claudius, and many others. It is now called
_L'lsle Sainte-Marie_, or _Santa Maria_.
PANNONIA, an extensive country of Europe, bounded by Mæsia on the
east, by Noricum on the west, Dalmatia on the south, and by the Danube
to the north; containing part of _Austria_ and _Hungary_.
PANNONIAN ALPS. See ALPS.
PAPHOS: there were two towns of the name, both on the west side of the
island of Cyprus, and dedicated to Venus, who was hence the _Paphian_
and the _Cyprian_ goddess.
PARTHIA, a country of the Farther Asia, with Media on the west, Asia
on the east, and Hyrcania on the north.
PATAVIUM, now _Padua_, in the territory of Venice.
PELIGNI, a people of Samaium, near Naples.
PELOPONNESUS, the large peninsula to the south of Greece, so called
after _Pelops_, viz. _Pelopis Nesus_. It is joined to the rest of
Greece by the isthmus of Corinth, which lies between the Egean and
Ionian seas. It is now called the _Morea_.
PENNINÆ ALPES. See ALPS.
PERGAMOS, an ancient and famous city of _Mysia_, situate on the
Caicus, which runs through it. It was the residence of Attalus and his
successors. This place was famous for a royal library, formed, with
emulation, to vie with that of Alexandria in Egypt. The kings of the
latter, stung with paltry jealousy, prohibited the exportation of
paper. Hence the invention of parchment, called _Pergamana charta_.
Plutarch assures us, that the library at Pergamos contained two
hundred thousand volumes. The whole collection was given by Marc
Antony as a present to Cleopatra, and thus the two libraries were
consolidated into one. In about six or seven centuries afterwards, the
volumes of science, by order of the calif Omar, served for a fire to
warm the baths of Alexandria; and thus perished _all the physic of the
soul_. The town subsists at this day, and retains the name of
_Pergamos_. See Spon's Travels, vol. i.
PERINTHUS, a town of Thrace, situate on the Propontis, now called
_Heraclea_.
PERUSIA, formerly a principal city of Etruria, on the north side of
the Tiber, with the famous _Lacus Trasimenus_ to the east. It was
besieged by Augustus, and reduced by famine. Lucan has, _Perusina
fames_. It is now called _Perugia_, in the territory of the Pope.
PHARSALIA, a town in Thessaly, rendered famous by the last battle
between Pompey and Julius Cæsar.
PHILADELPHIA: there were several ancient towns of this name. That
which Tacitus mentions was in Lydia, built by Attalus Philadelphus; it
is now called by the Turks, _Alah Scheyr_.
PHILIPPI, a city of Macedonia, on the confines of Thrace; built by
Philip of Macedon, and famous for the battle fought on its plains
between Augustus and the republican party. It is now in ruins.
PHILIPPOPOLIS, a city of Thrace, near the river _Hebrus_. It derived
its name from Philip of Macedon, who enlarged it, and augmented the
number of inhabitants.
PICENTIA, the capital of the _Picentini_, on the Tuscan Sea. not far
from Naples.
PICENUM, a territory of Italy, to the east of Umbria, and in some
parts extending from the Apennine to the Adriatic. It is now supposed
to be the _March of Ancona_.
PIRÆEUS, a celebrated port near Athens. It is much frequented at this
day; its name, _Porto Lione_.
PISÆ, a town of Etruria, which gave name to the bay of Pisa, _Sinus
Pisanus_.
PLACENTIA, a town in Italy, now called _Placenza_, in the duchy of
Parma.
PLANASIA, a small island near the coast of Etruria, in the Tuscan Sea;
now _Pianosa_.
POMPEII, a town of Campania, near Herculaneum. It was destroyed by an
earthquake in the reign of Nero.
POMPEIOPOLIS: there were anciently two cities of the name; one in
Cilicia, another in Paphlagonia.
PONTIA, an island in the Tuscan sea; a place of relegation or
banishment.
PONTUS, an extensive country of Asia Minor, lying between Bithynia and
Paphlagonia, and extending along the _Pontus Euxinus_, the Euxine or
the Pontic Sea, from which it took its name. It had that sea to the
east, the mouth of the Ister to the north, and Mount Hæmus to the
south. The wars between Mithridates, king of Pontus, and the Romans,
are well known.
PRÆNESTE, a town of Latium to the south-east of Rome, standing very
high, and said to be a strong place. The town that succeeded it,
stands low in a valley, and is called _Palestrina_.
PROPONTIS, near the Hellespont and the Euxine; now the Sea of
_Marmora_.
PUTEOLI, a town of Campania, so called from its number of wells; now
_Pozzuolo_, nine miles to the west of Naples.
PYRAMUS, a river of Cilicia, rising in Mount Taurus, and running from
east to west into the Sea of Cilicia.
PYRGI, a town of Etruria, on the Tuscan Sea; now St. _Marinella_,
about thirty-three miles distant from Rome.
Q.
QUADI, a people of Germany, situate to the south-east of Bohemia, on
the banks of the Danube. See Manners, of the Germans, s. 42. note b.
R.
RAVENNA, an ancient city of Italy, near the coast of the Adriatic. A
port was constructed at the mouth of the river Bedesis, and by
Augustus made a station for the fleet that guarded the Adriatic. It is
still called _Ravenna_.
REATE, a town of the Sabines in Latium, situate near the lake Velinus.
REGIUM. See RHEGIUM.
REMI, a people of Gaul, who inhabited the northern part of
_Champagne_; now the city of _Rheims_.
RHACOTIS, the ancient name of Alexandria in Egypt.
RHÆTIA, a country bounded by the Rhine to the west, the Alps to the
east, by Italy to the south, and _Vindelicia_ to the north. Horace
says _Videre Rhæti bella sub Alpibus Drusum gerentem, et Vindelici_.
Now the country of the _Grisons_.
RHEGIUM, an ancient city at the extremity of the Apennine, on the
narrow strait between Italy and Sicily. It is now called _Reggio_, in
the farther Calabria.
RHINE, the river that rises in the Rhætian Alps, and divides Gaul from
Germany. See Manners of the Germans, s. 1. note f; and s. 29. note
a.
RHODANUS, a famous river of Gaul, rising on Mount Adula, not far from
the head of the Rhine. After a considerable circuit it enters the
_Lake of Geneva_, and in its course visits the city of Lyons, and from
that place traverses a large tract of country, and falls into the
Mediterranean. It is now called the _Rhone_.
RHODUS, a celebrated island in the Mediterranean, near the coast of
Asia Minor, over-against _Caria_. The place of retreat for the
discontented Romans. Tiberius made that use of it.
RHOXOLANI, a people on the north of the _Palus Mæotis_, situate along
the Tanais, now the _Don_.
RICODULUM, a town of the Treviri on the Moselle.
S.
SABRINA, now the _Severn_; a river that rises in _Montgomeryshire_,
and running by _Shrewsbury_, _Worcester_, and _Glocester_, empties
itself into the Bristol Channel, separating Wales from England.
SALA. It seems that two rivers of this name were intended by Tacitus,
One, now called the Issel, which had a communication with the Rhine,
by means of the canal made by Drusus, the father of Germanicus. The
other SALA was a river in the country now called _Thuringia_,
described by Tacitus as yielding salt, which the inhabitants
considered as the peculiar favour of heaven. The salt, however, was
found in the salt springs near the river, which runs northward into
the Albis, or Elbe.
SALAMIS, an island near the coast of Attica, opposite to _Eleusis_.
There was also a town of the name of Salamis, on the eastern coast of
Cyprus, built by Teucer, when driven by his father from his native
island. Horace says, _Ambiguam tellure novâ Salamina futuram_.
SAMARIA, the capital of the country of that name in Palestine; the
residence of the kings of Israel, and afterwards of Herod. Samaritans,
the name of the people. Some magnificent ruins of the place are still
remaining.
SAMBULOS, a mountain in the territory of the Parthians, with the river
_Corma_ near it. The mountain and the river are mentioned by Tacitus
only.
SAMNIS, or SAMNITES, a people of ancient Italy, extending on both
sides of the Apennine, famous in the Roman wars.
SAMOS, an island of Asia Minor, opposite to Ephesus; the birth-place
of Pythagoras, who was thence called the _Samian Sage_.
SAMOTHRACIA, an island of Thrace, in the Egean Sea, opposite to the
mouth of the Hebrus. There were mysteries of initiation celebrated in
this island, held in as high repute as those of Eleusis; with a sacred
and inviolable asylum.
SARDES, the capital of Lydia, at the foot of Mount Tmolus, from which
the Pactolus ran down through the heart of the city. The inhabitants
were called _Sardicni_.
SARDINIA, an island on the Sea of Liguria, lying to the south of
Corsica. It is said that an herb grew there, which, when eaten,
produced a painful grin, called _Sardonius risus_. The island now
belongs to the Duke of Saxony, with the title of king.
SARMATIA, called also _Scythia_, a northern country of vast extent,
and divided into _Europæa_ and _Asiatica_; the former beginning at the
Vistula (its western boundary), and comprising Russia, part of Poland,
Prussia, and Lithuania; and the latter bounded on the west by Sarmatia
Europæa and the Tanais (the _Don_), extending south as far as Mount
Caucasus and the Caspian Sea, containing Tartary, Circassia, &c.
SAXA RUBRA, a place on the Flamminian road in Etruria, nine miles from
Rome.
SCEPTEUCI, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia, between the Euxine and the
Caspian Sea.
SCYTHIA, a large country, now properly Crim Tartary; in ancient
geography divided in Scythia Asiatica, on either side of Mount Imaus;
and Scythia Europæa, about the Euxine Sea and the Mæotic Lake. See
also SARMATIA.
SEGESTUM, a town of Sicily, near Mount _Eryx_, famous for a temple
sacred to the _Erycinian_ Venus.
SELEUCIA, a city of Mesopotamia, situate at the confluence of the
_Euphrates_ and the _Tigris_; now called _Bagdad_. We find in ancient
geography several cities of this name.
SEMNONES, a people of Germany, called by Tacitus the most illustrious
branch of the Suevi. They inhabited between the Albis and Viadrus.
SENENSIS COLONIA, now Sienna, in Tuscany.
SENONES, inhabitants of Celtic Gaul, situate on the _Sequana_ (now the
Seine); a people famous for their invasion of Italy, and taking and
burning Rome A.U.C. 364.
SEQUANI, a people of Belgic Gaul, inhabiting the country now called
_Franche Comté_ or the _Upper Burgundy_, and deriving their name from
the _Sequana_ (now the _Seine_), which, rising near _Dijon_ in
Burgundy, runs through Paris, and, traversing Normandy, falls into the
British Channel near _Havre de Grace_.
SERIPHOS, a small island in the Ægean Sea, one of the Cyclades: now
_Serfo_, or _Serfanto_.
SICAMBRI, an ancient people of Lower Germany, between the Mæse and the
Rhine, where _Guelderland_ is. They were transplanted by Augustus to
the west side of the Rhine. Horace says to that emperor, _Te cæde
gaudentes Sicambri compositis venerantur armis_.
SILURES, a people of Britain, situate on the _Severn_ and the Bristol
Channel; now _South Wales_, comprising _Glamorgan_, _Radnorshire_,
_Hereford_, and _Monmouth_. See Camden.
SIMBRUINI COLLES, the Simbruine Hills, so called from the _Simbruina
Stagna_, or lakes formed by the river _Anio_, which gave the name of
Sublaqueum to the neighbouring town.
SINOPE, one of the most famous cities in the territory of Pontus. It
was taken by Lucullus in the Mithridatic war, and afterwards received
Roman colonies. It was the birth-place of Diogenes the cynic, who was
banished from his country. The place is still called _Sinope_, a port
town of Asiatic Turkey, on the Euxine.
SINUESSA, a town of Latium, on the confines of Campania, beyond the
river Liris (now called _Garigliano_). The place was much frequented
for the salubrity of its waters.
SIPYLUS, a mountain of Lydia, near which Livy says the Romans obtained
a complete victory over Antiochas.
SIRACI, a people of Asia, between the _Euxine_ and the _Caspian_ Seas.
SMYRNA, a city of Ionia in the Hither Asia, which laid a claim to the
birth of Homer. The name of Smyrna still remains in a port town of
Asiatic Turkey.
SOPHENE, a country between the Greater and the Lesser Armenia; now
called _Zoph_.
SOZA, a city of the _Dandaridæ_.
SPELUNCA, a small town near _Fondi_, on the coast of Naples.
STÆCHADES, five islands, now called the _Hieres_, on the coast of
Provence.
STRATONICE, a town of Caria in the Hither Asia, so called after
_Stratonice_, the wife of Antiochus.
SUEVI, a great and warlike people of ancient Germany, who occupied a
prodigious tract of country. See Manners of the Germans, s. 38. and
note a.
SUNICI, a people removed from Germany to Gallia Belgica. According to
Cluverius, they inhabited the duchy of _Limburg_.
SWINDEN, a liver that flows on the confines of the _Dahæ_. It is
mentioned by Tacitus only. Brotier supposes it to be what is now
called _Herirud_, or _La Riviere d'Herat_.
SYENE, a town in the Higher Egypt, towards the borders of Ethiopia,
situate on the Nile. It lies under the tropic of Cancer, as is
evident, says Pliny the elder, from there being no shadow projected at
noon at the summer solstice. It was, for a long time, the boundary of
the Roman empire. A garrison was stationed there: Juvenal was sent to
command there by Domitian, who, by conferring that unlocked for
honour, meant, with covered malice, to punish the poet for his
reflection on Paris the comedian, a native of Egypt, and a favourite
at court.
SYRACUSE, one of the noblest cities in Sicily. The Romans took it
during the second Punic war, on which occasion the great Archimedes
lost his life. It is now destroyed, and no remains of the place are
left. _Etiam periere ruinæ_.
SYRIA, a country of the Hither Asia, between the Mediterranean and the
Euphrates, so extensive that Palestine, or the Holy Land, was deemed a
part of Syria.
SYRTES, the _deserts of Barbary_: also two dangerous sandy gulfs in
the Mediterranean, on the coast of Barbary; one called _Syrtis Magna_,
now the _Gulf of Sidra_; the other _Syrtis Parva_, now the _Gulf of
Cassos_.
T.
TANAIS, the _Don_, a very large river in Scythia, dividing Asia from
Europe. It rises in Muscovy, and flowing through _Crim Tartary_, runs
into the _Palus Mæotis_, near the city now called Azoff, in the hands
of the Turks.
TARENTUM, now Tarento, in the province of _Otranto_. The Lacedemonians
founded a colony there, and thence it was called by Horace,
_Lacedæmonium Tarentum_.
TARICHÆA, a town of Galilee. It was besieged and taken by Vespasian,
who sent six thousand of the prisoners to assist in cutting a passage
through the isthmus of Corinth.
TARRACINA, a city of the Volsci in Latium, near the mouth of the
_Ufens_, in the Campania of Rome. Now _Terracina_, on the Tuscan Sea.
TARRACO, the capital of a division of Spain, called by the Romans
_Tarraconensis_; now Taragon, a port town in Catalonia, on the
Mediterranean, to the west of _Barcelona_. See HISPANIA.
TARTARUS, a river running between the Po and the Athesis, (the
_Adige_) from west to east, into the Adriatic; now _Tartaro_.
TAUNUS, a mountain of Germany, on the other side of the Rhine; now
Mount _Heyrick_, over-against _Mentz_.
TAURANNITII, a people who occupied a district of _Armenia Major_, not
far from _Tigranocerta_.
TAURI, a people inhabiting the _Taurica Chersonesus_, on the _Euxine_.
The country is now called _Crim Tartary_.
TAURINI, a people dwelling at the foot of the Alps. Their capital was
called, after Augustus Cæsar, who planted a colony, there, _Augusta
Taurinorum_. The modern name is _Turin_, the capital of Piedmont.
TAURUS, the greatest mountain in Asia, extending from the Indian to
the Ægean Sea; said to be fifty miles over, and fifteen hundred long.
Its extremity to the north is called _Imaus_.
TELEBOÆ, a people of Æolia or Acarnania in Greece, who removed to
Italy, and settled in the isle of Capreæ.
TEMNOS, an inland town of Æolia, in the Hither Asia.
TENCTERI, a people of Germany. See the Manners of the Germans, s. 32.
TENOS, one of the Cyclades.
TERMES, a city in the Hither Spain; now a village called _Tiermes_, in
Castille.
TERRACINA, a city of the _Volsci_ in Latium, near the mouth of the
_Ufens_, on the Tuscan Sea; now called _Terracina_, in the territory
of Rome.
TEUTOBURGIUM, a forest in Germany, rendered famous by the slaughter of
Varus and his legions. It began in the country of the Marsi, and
extended to Paderborn, Osnaburg, and Munster, between the _Ems_ and
the _Luppia_.
THALA, a town in Numidia, destroyed in the war of Julius Cæsar against
Juba.
THEBÆ, a very ancient town in the Higher Egypt, on the east side of
the Nile, famous for its hundred gates. Another city of the same name
in Bœotia, in Greece, said to have been built by Cadmus. It had the
honour of producing two illustrious chiefs, Epaminondas and
Pelopidas, and Pindar the celebrated poet. Alexander rased it to the
ground; but spared the house and family of Pindar.
THERMES otherwise THERMA, a town in Macedonia, afterwards called
_Thessalonica_, famous for two epistles of St. Paul to the
Thessalonians. The city stood at the head of a large bay, called
_Thermæus Sinus_; now _Golfo di Salonichi_.
THESSALY, a country of Greece, formerly a great part of Macedonia.
THRACIA, an extensive region, bounded to the north by Mount Hæmus, to
the south by the Ægean Sea, and by the Euxine and Propontis to the
east. In the time of Tiberius it was an independent kingdom, but
afterwards made a Roman province.
THUBASCUM, a town of Mauritania in Africa.
THURII, a people of ancient Italy, inhabiting a part of Lucania,
between the rivers Crathis (now _Crate_), and Sybaris (now _Sibari_).
TIBER, a town of ancient Latium, situate on the Anio, about twenty
miles from Rome. Here Horace had his villa, and it was the frequent
retreat of Augustus. Now _Tivoli_.
TICINUM, a town of _Insubria_, situate on the river Ticinus, near its
confluence with the Po; now _Pavia_, in Milan.
TICINUS, a river of Italy falling into the Po, near the city of
_Ticinum_, or Pavia; now _Tesino_.
TIGRANOCERTA, a town of Armenia Major, built by Tigranes in the time
of the Mithridatic war. The river _Nicephorus_ washes one side of the
town. Brotier says, it is now called _Sert_ or _Sered_.
TIGRIS, a great river bounding the country called Mesopotamia to the
east, while the Euphrates incloses it to the west. Pliny gives an
account of the Tigris, in its rise and progress, till it sinks under
ground near Mount Taurus, and breaks forth again with a rapid current,
falling at last into the Persian Gulf. It divides into two channels at
Seleucia.
TMOLUS, a mountain of Lydia, commended for its vines, its saffron, its
fragrant shrubs, and the fountain-head of the Pactolus. It appears
from Tacitus, that there was a town of the same name, that stood near
the mountain.
TOLBIACUM, a town of Gallia Belgica; now _Zulpich_, or _Zulch_, a
small town in the duchy of Juliers.
TRALLES, formerly a rich and populous city of Lydia, not far from the
river Meander. The ruins are still visible.
TRAPEZUS, now _Trapezond_ or _Trebizond_, a city with a port in the
Lesser Asia, on the Euxine.
TREVIRI, the people of _Treves_; an ancient city of the Lower Germany,
on the Moselle. It was made a Roman colony by Augustus, and became the
most famous city of Belgic Gaul. It is now the capital of an
electorate of the same name.
TRIBOCI, a people of Belgica, originally Germans. They inhabited
_Alsace_, and the diocese of _Strasbourg_.
TRIMETUS, an island in the Adriatic; one of those which the ancients
called _Insulæ Diomedeæ_; it still retains the name of _Tremiti_. It
lies near the coast of the _Capitanate_, a province of the kingdom of
Naples, on the Gulf of Venice.
TRINOBANTES, a people of Britain, who inhabited _Middlesex_ and
_Essex_.
TUBANTES, an ancient people of Germany, about _Westphalia_.
TUNGRI, a people of Belgia. Their city, according to Cæsar, _Atuaca_;
now _Tongeren_, in the bishopric of Liege.
TURONII, a people of ancient Gaul, inhabiting the east side of the
_Ligeris_ (now the _Loire_). Hence the modern name of _Tours_.
TUSCULUM, a town of Latium, to the north of _Alba_, about twelve miles
from Rome. It gave the name of _Tusculanum_ to Cicero's villa, where
that great orator wrote his Tusculan Questions.
TYRUS, an ancient city of Phœnicia, situate on an island so near the
continent, that Alexander the Great formed it into a peninsula, by the
mole or causey which he threw up during the siege. See Curtius, lib.
iv. s. 7.
U.
UBIAN ALTAR, an altar erected by the Ubii, on their removal to the
western side of the Rhine, in honour of Augustus; but whether this was
at a different place, or the town of the Ubii, is not known.
UBII, a people originally of Germany, but transplanted by Augustus to
the west side of the Rhine, under the conduct of _Agrippa_. Their
capital was then for a long time called _Oppidum Ubiorum_, and, at
last, changed by the empress Agrippina to _Colonia Agrippinensis_; now
_Cologne_, the capital of the electorate of that name.
UMBRIA, a division of Italy, to the south-east of Etruria, between the
Adriatic and the Nar.
UNSINGIS, a river of Germany, running into the sea, near _Groningen_;
now the _Hunsing_.
URBINUM, now _Urbino_, a city for ever famous for having given birth
to Raphael, the celebrated painter.
USIPII, or USIPETES, a people of Germany, who, after their expulsion
by the Catti, settled near _Paderborn_. See Manners of the Germans, s.
32. and note a.
USPE, a town in the territory of the _Siraci_; now destroyed.
V.
VADA, a town on the left-hand side of the Nile, in the island of
Batavia.
VAHALIS, a branch of the Rhine; now the Waal. See Manners of the
Germans, s. 29. and note a.
VANGIONES, originally inhabitants of Germany, but afterwards settled
in Gaul; now the diocese of _Worms_.
VASCONES, a people who inhabited near the Pyrenees, occupying lands
both in Spain and Gaul.
VELABRUM, a place at Rome, between Mount Aventine and Mount Palatine,
generally under water, from the overflowing of the Tiber. Propertius
describes it elegantly, lib. iv. eleg. x.
Qua Velabra suo stagnabant flumine, quáque
Nauta per urbanas velificabat aquas.
VELINUS, a lake in the country of the Sabines.
VENETI, a people of Gallia Celtica, who inhabited what is now called
_Vannes_, in the south of Britanny, and also a considerable tract on
the other side of the Alps, extending from the Po along the Adriatic,
to the mouth of the _Ister_.
VERCELLÆ, now _Vercelli_ in Piedmont.
VERONA, now _Verona_, in the territory of Venice, on the _Adige_.
VESONTIUM, the capital of the Sequani; now _Besançon_, the chief city
of Burgundy.
VETERA, i.e. Vetera Castra. The Old Camp, which was a fortified
station for the legions; now _Santen_, in the duchy of Cleves, not far
from the Rhine.
VIA SALARIA, a road leading from the salt-works at Ostia to the
country of the Sabines.
VIADRUS, now the _Oder_, running through _Silesia_, _Brandenburg_,
_Pomerania_, and discharging itself into the Baltic.
VICETIA, now _Vicenza_, a town in the territory of Venice.
VIENNÆ, a city of Narbonese Gaul; now _Vienne_, in _Dauphiné_.
VINDELICI, a people inhabiting the country of _Vindelicia_, near the
Danube, with the Ræhti to the south; now part of _Bavaria_ and
_Suabia_.
VINDONISSA, now _Windisch_, in the canton of Bern, in Swisserland.
VISURGIS, a river of Germany, made famous by the slaughter of Varus
and his legions; now the _Weser_, running north between Westphalia and
Lower Saxony, into the German Sea.
VOCETIUS MONS, a mountain of the Helvetii, thought to be the roughest
part of Mount _Jura_, to which the Helvetii fled when defeated by
Cæcina. See Hist. i. s. 67.
VOLSCI, a powerful people of ancient Latium, extending from _Antium_,
their capital, to the _Upper Liris_, and the confines of _Campania_.
VULSINII, or VOLSINII, a city of Etruria, the native place of Sejanus;
now _Bolseno_, or _Bolsenna_.
Z.
ZEUGMA, a town on the _Euphrates_, famous for a bridge over the river.
See Pliny, lib, v. s. 24.