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A mountain in Apulia, mentioned only by Polybius, in his description of Hannibal's
march into that country, B.C. 217 (Pol. iii. 100), from which it appears to have
been the name of a part of the Apennines on the frontiers of Samnium and Apulia,
not far from Luceria; but it cannot be more precisely identified.
Vultur Mons (Monte Voltore), one of the most celebrated mountains
of Southern Italy, situated on the confines of Apulia, Lucania, and the country
of the Hirpini. It commences about 5 miles to the S. of the modern city of Melfi,
and nearly due W. of Venosa (Venusia), and attains an elevation of 4433 feet above
the level of the sea. Its regular conical form and isolated position, as well
as the crater-like basin near its summit, at once mark it as of volcanic origin;
and this is confirmed by the nature of the rocks of which it is composed. Hence
it cannot be considered as properly belonging to the range of the Apennines, from
which it is separated by a tract of hilly country, forming as it were the base
from which the detached cone of Monte Voltore rises. No ancient author alludes
to the volcanic character of Mount Vultur; but the mountain itself is noticed,
in a well known passage, by Horace, who must have been very familiar with its
aspect, as it is a prominent object in the view from his native city of Venusia.
(Carm. iii. 4. 9-16.) He there terms it Vultur Apulus, though he adds, singularly
enough, that he was without the limits of Apulia ( altricis extra limen Apuliae
) when he was wandering in its woods. This can only be explained by the circumstance
that the mountain stood (as above stated) on the confines of three provinces.
Lucan also incidentally notices Mt. Vultur as one of the mountains that directly
fronted the plains of Apulia. (Lucan ix.185.)
The physical and geological characters of Mount Vultur are noticed
by Romanelli (vol. ii. p. 233), and more fully by Daubeny (Description of Volcanoes,
chap. 11).
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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