Location information

Paraetonium

  Paraetonium (Paraitonion, Scyl. p. 44; Strab. xvii. p. 799; Pomp. Mela, i. 8. § 2; Plin. v. 5; Ptol. iv. 5. § 4; Steph.: B.; Itin. Anton.; Hierocles), a town of Marmarica, which was also called Ammonia. (Ammonia, Strab. l. c.) Its celebrity was owing to its spacious harbour, extending to 40 stadia (Strab. l. c.; comp. Diod. i. 31), but which appears to have been difficult to make. (Lucian, Quomodo historic sit, conscribenda, 62.) Paraetonium was 1300 stadia (Strab. l. c.; 1550 stadia,. Stadiasm. § 19) from Alexandreia. From this point Alexander, B.C. 332, set out to visit the oracle of Ammon. (Arrian, Anab. iv. 3. § 3.) When the world's debate was decided at Actium, Antonius stopped at Paraetonium, where some Roman troops were stationed under Pinarius for the defence of Aegypt. (Plut. Anton. 70; Flor. iv. 11.) The name occurs in Latin poetry. (Ovid, Met. ix. 772, Amores, ii. 13. 7; Lucan iii.295.) Justinian fortified it as a frontier fortress to protect Aegypt from attacks on the W. (Procop. de Aed. vi. 2.) An imperial coin of the elder Faustina has been assigned to this place, but on insufficient grounds. (Eckhel, vol. iv. p. 116.) When the Aoulad Aly were sovereigns over this district, the site, where there were ancient remains, retained the name of Baretoun; but after their expulsion by the pasha, of Aegypt, it was called Berek Marsah. (Pacho, Voyage dans la: Marmarique, p. 28.)

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

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD)
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...