Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "MANTOVA Town LOMBARDIA" .
Mantua (Mantoua: Eth. Mantuanus: Mantova), a city of Cisalpine Gaul,
situated on the river Mincius, on an island formed by its waters, about 12 miles
above its confluence with the Padus. There seems no doubt that it was a very ancient
city, and existed long before the establishment of the Gauls in this part of Italy.
Virgil, who was naturally well acquainted with the traditions of his native place,
tells us that its population was a mixed race, but the bulk of the people were
of Etruscan origin; and Pliny even says that it was the only city beyond the Padus
which was still inhabited by an Etruscan people. (Virg. Aen. x. 201-203; Plin.
iii. 19. s. 23.) Virgil does not tell us what were the other national elements
of its population, and it is not easy to understand the exact meaning of his expression
that it consisted of three gentes, and that each gens comprised four populi; but
it seems certainly probable that this relates to the internal division of its
own territory and population, and has no reference (as Muller has supposed) to
the twelve cities founded by the Etruscans in the valley of the Padus. (Muller,
Etrusker, vol. i. p. 137; Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 296, note 757.) The Etruscan origin
of Mantua is confirmed by its name, which was in all probability derived from
that of the Etruscan divinity Mantus, though another tradition, adopted by Virgil
himself, seems to have deduced it from a prophetic nymph of the name of Manto.
(Serv. ad Aen. l. c.; Schol. Veron. ad loc. p. 103, ed. Keil.) According to one
of the oldest scholiasts on Virgil, both Verrius Flaccus and Caecina, in their
Etruscan histories, ascribed the foundation of Mantua to Tarchon himself, while
Virgil represents Ocnus, the son of Manto, as its founder. (Virg. Aen. x. 200;
Schol. Veron. l. c.) The only historical fact that can be considered as resulting
from all these statements is that Mantua really was an Etruscan settlement, and
that for some reason (probably from its peculiar and inaccessible situation) it
retained much of its Etruscan character long after this had disappeared in the
other cities of Cisalpine Gaul.
After the settlement of the Gauls in Northern Italy, Mantua was probably
included in the territory of the Cenomani (Ptol. iii. 1. § 31); but we find no
mention of its name in history, nor do we know at what period it passed under
the Roman dominion. From an incidental notice in Livy (xxiv. 10) during the Second
Punic War, we may probably infer that it was then on friendly terms with Rome,
as were the Cenomani and Veneti; and as its name is not mentioned during the subsequent
wars of the Romans in Cisalpine Gaul, it is probable that it passed gradually,
with the other towns of the Cenomani, from a state of alliance to one of dependence,
and ultimately of subjection. But even under the Roman dominion the name of Mantua
scarcely appears in history, and it is clear that it was far from possessing the
same relative importance in ancient times that it did in the middle ages, and
still retains. It was undoubtedly a municipal town, and is mentioned as such by
all the geographers, as well as in inscriptions, but both Strabo and Martial speak
of it as very inferior to the neighbouring city of Verona, in comparison with
which the latter terms it parva Mantua. (Strab. v. p. 213; Plin. iii. 19. s. 23;
Ptol. iii. 1. § 31; Martial, xiv. 195.) During the civil wars after the death
of Caesar, Mantua suffered the loss of a part of its territory, for Octavian having
assigned to his discharged soldiers the lands of the neighbouring Cremona, and
these having proved insufficient, a portion of the territory of Mantua was taken
to make up the necessary amount. (Virg. Ecl. ix. 28, Georg. ii. 198; Serv. ad
loc.) It was on this occasion that Virgil was expelled from his patrimonial estate,
which he however recovered by the favour of Augustus.
The chief celebrity of Mantua under the Roman Empire was undoubtedly
owing to its having been the birthplace of Virgil, who has, in consequence, celebrated
it in several passages of his works; and its name is noticed on the same account
by many of the later Roman poets. (Virg. Georg. iii. 12; Ovid, Amor. iii. 15.
7; Stat. Silv. iv. 2. 9 ; Sil. Ital. viii. 595; Martial, i. 62. 2, xiv. 195.)
According to Donatus, however, the actual birthplace of the poet was the village
of Andes in the territory of Mantua, and not the city itself. (Donat. Vit. Virg.
1; Hieron. Chron. ad ann. 1947.)
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Mantua appears to have become
a place of importance from its great strength as a fortress, arising from its
peculiar situation, surrounded on all sides by broad lakes or expanses of water,
formed by the stagnation of the river Mincius. It, however, fell into the hands
of the Lombards under Agilulf (P. Diac. iv. 29), and after the expulsion of that
people was governed by independent counts. In the middle ages it became one of
the most important cities of the N. of Italy; and is still a populous place, and
one of the strongest fortresses in Italy. It is still so completely surrounded
by the stagnant waters of the Mincio, that it is accessible only by causeways,
the shortest of which is 1000 feet in length.
Mantua was distant from Verona 25 miles; so that Procopius calls it
a day's journey from thence. (Procop. B. G. iii. 3.) It was situated on a line
of road given in the Tabula, which proceeded from Mediolanum, by Cremona and Bedriacum,
to Mantua, and thence to Hostilia, where it crossed the Padus, and thence proceeded
direct to Ravenna. (Tab. Peut.) Mantua was distant from Cremona by this road about
40 miles. It would appear from one of the minor poems ascribed to Virgil (Catalect.
8. 4), that this distance was frequently traversed by muleteers with light vehicles
in a single day.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
MANTOUE (Ancient city) LOMBARDIA
A town in Gallia Transpadana, on an island in the river Mincius. It was not a place of importance; but is celebrated because Vergil, who was born at the neighbouring village of Andes, regarded Mantua as his birthplace.
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