Listed 10 sub titles with search on: Various locations for wider area of: "CAMPANIA Region ITALY" .
An ancient town of the Ausones, near Menturnae and Vescia
CAMPANIA (Region) ITALY
Lactarius Mons (Galaktos oros: Monte S. Angelo), was the name given
by the Romans to a mountain in the neighbourhood of Stabiae in Campania. It was
derived from the circumstance that the mountain abounded in excellent pastures,
which were famous for the quality of the milk they produced; on which account
the mountain was resorted to by invalids, especially in cases of consumption,
for which a milk diet was considered particularly beneficial. (Cassiod. Ep. xi.
10.; Galen, de Meth. Med. v. 12.) It was at the foot of this mountain that Narses
obtained a great victory over the Goths under Teias in A.D. 553, in which the
Gothic king was slain. (Procop. B. G. iv. 35, 36.) The description of the Mons
Lactarius, and its position with regard to Stabiae, leave no doubt that it was
a part of the mountain range which branches off from the Apennines near Nocera
(Nuceria), and separates the Bay of Naples from that of Paestum. The nighest point
of this range, the Monte S. Angelo, attains a height of above 5000 feet; the whole
range is calcareous, and presents beautiful forests, as well as abundant pastures.
The name of Lettere, still borne by a town on the slope of the mountain side,
a little above Stabiae, is evidently a relic of the ancient name.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Massicus Mons (Monte Massico), a mountain, or rather range of hills, in Campania, which formed the limit between Campania properly so called and the portion of Latium, south of the Liris, to which the name of Latium Novum or Adjectum was sometimes given. (Plin. iii. 5. s. 9.) The Massican Hills form a range of inconsiderable elevation, which extends from the foot of the mountain group near Suessa (the Mte. di Sta. Croce), in a SW. direction, to within 2 miles of the sea, where it ends in the hill of Mondragone, just above the ancient Sinuessa. The Massican range is not, like the more lofty group of the Mte. di Sta. Croce or Rocca Monfina, of volcanic origin, but is composed of the ordinary limestone of the Apennines (Daubeny On Volcanoes, p. 175). But, from its immediate proximity to the volcanic formations of Campania, the soil which covers it is in great part composed of such products, and hence probably the excellence of its wine, which was one of the most celebrated in Italy, and vied with the still more noted Falernian. (Virg. Georg. ii. 143, Aen. vii. 724; Hor. Carm. i. 1. 19, iii. 21. 5; Sil. Ital. vii. 20; Martial, i. 27. 8, xiii. 111; Plin. xiv. 6. s. 8; Columell. iii. 8.) Yet the whole of this celebrated range of hills does not exceed 9 miles in length by about 2 in breadth.
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
Nesis (Nisida), a small island on the coast of Campania, between Puteoli and Neapolis, and directly opposite to the extremity of the ridge called Mons Pausilypus (Seneca, Ep. 53). It may be considered as forming the eastern headland of the bay of Baiae or Puteoli, of which Cape Misenum is the western limit. The island is of small extent, but considerable elevation, and undoubtedly constituted at a remote period one side of the crater of a volcano, This must, however, have been extinct before the period of historical memory; but it appears that even in the days of Statius and Lucan it emitted sulphureous and noxious vapours, which has long ceased to be the case (Stat. Silv. ii. 2. 78; Lucan vi.90). It was nevertheless, like the adjoining hill of Pausilypus, a pleasant place of residence. Brutus had a villa there, where he was visited by Cicero shortly after the death of Caesar, and where they conferred, together with Cassius and Libo, upon their future plans (Cic. ad Att. xvi. 1-4). Pliny tells us that it was famous for its asparagus, a celebrity which it still retains (Plin. xix. 8. s. 42); but the wood which crowned it in the days of Statius (Silv. iii. 1. 148), has long since disappeared.
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
Vulturnus (Ououltournos: Volturno), the most considerable river of
Campania, which has its sources in the Apennines of Samnium, about 5 miles S.
of Aufidena, flows within a few miles of Aesernia on its left bank. and of Venafrum
on its right, thence pursues a SE. course for about 35 miles, till it receives
the waters of the Calor (Calore), after which it turns abruptly to the WSW., passes
under the walls of Casilinum (Capoua), and finally discharges itself into the
Tyrrhenian sea about 20 miles below that city. Its mouth was marked in ancient
times by the town of the same name (Vulturnum), the site of which is still occupied
by the modern fortress of Castel Volturno. (Strab. v. pp. 238, 249; Plin. iii.
5. s. 9; Mel. ii. 4. § 9.) The Vulturnus is a deep and rapid, but turbid stream,
to which character we find many allusions in the Roman poets. (Virg. Aen. vii.
729; Ovid. Met. xv. 714; Lucan ii.423; Claudian. Paneg. Prob. et Ol. 256; Sil.
Ital. viii. 530.) A bridge was thrown over it close to its mouth by Domitian,
when he constructed the Via Domitia that led from Sinuessa direct to Cumae. (Stat.
Silv. iv. 3. 67, &c.) From the important position that the Vulturnus occupies
in Campania, the fertile plains of which it traverses in their whole extent from
the foot of the Apennines to the sea, its name is frequently mentioned in history,
especially during the wars of the Romans with the Campanians and Samnites, and
again during the Second Punic War. (Liv. viii. 11, x. 20, 31, xxii. 14, &c.; Polyb.
iii. 92.) Previous to the construction of the bridge above mentioned (the remains
of which are still visible near the modern Castel Volturno), there was no bridge
over it below Casilinum, where it was crossed by the Via Appia. It appears to
have been in ancient times navigable for small vessels at least as far as that
city. (Liv. xxvi. 9; Stat. Silv. iv. 3. 77.)
Its only considerable tributary is the Calor which brings with it
the waters of several other streams, of which the most important are the Tamarus
and Sabatus. These combined streams bring down to the Vulturnus almost the whole
waters of the land of the Hirpini; and hence the Calor is at the point of junction
nearly equal in magnitude to the Vulturnus itself.
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
NAPLES (Town) CAMPANIA
Sarnus (ho Sarnos: Sarno), a river of Campania, flowing into the Bay
of Naples. It has its sources in the Apennines, above Nuceria (Nocera), near which
city it emerges into the plain, and, after traversing this, falls into the sea
a short distance S. of Pompeii. Its present mouth is about 2 miles distant from
that city, but we know that in ancient times it flowed under the walls of Pompeii,
and entered the sea close to its gates. The change in its course is doubtless
owing to the great catastrophe of A.D. 79, which buried Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Virgil speaks of the Sarnus as flowing through a plain (quae rigat aequora Sarnus,
Aen. vii. 738); and both Silius Italicus and Statius allude to it as a placid
and sluggish stream. (Sil. Ital. viii. 538; Stat. Silv. i. 2. 265; Lucan ii.422.)
According to Strabo it was navigable, and served both for the export and import
of the produce of the interior to and from Pompeii. (Strab. v. p. 247; Plin. iii.
5. s. 9; Ptol. iii. 1. § 7; Suet. Clar. Rhet. 4.) Vibius Sequester tells us (p.
18) that it derived its name as well as its sources from a mountain called Sarus,
or Sarnus, evidently the same which rises above the modern town of Sarno, and
is still called Monte Saro or Sarno. One of the principal sources of the Sarno
does, in fact, rise at the foot of this mountain, which is joined shortly after
by several confluents, the most considerable of these being the one which flows,
as above described, from the valley beyond Nuceria.
According to a tradition alluded to by Virgil (l. c.), the banks of
the Sarnus and the plain through which it flowed, were inhabited in ancient times
by a people called Sarrastes whose name is evidently connected with that of the
river. They are represented as a Pelasgian tribe, who settled in this part of
Italy, where they founded Nuceria, as well as several other cities. (Conon, ap.
Serv. ad Aen. l. c.; Sil. Ital. viii. 537.) But their name seems to have quite
disappeared in the historical period; and we find Nuceria occupied by the Alfaterni,
who were an Oscan or Sabellian race.
No trace is found in ancient authors of a town of the name of Sarnus; but
it is mentioned by the Geographer of Ravenna (iv. 32), and seems, therefore, to
have grown up soon after the fall of the Roman Empire.
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
VAIE (Ancient city) ITALY
Lucrinus Lacus (ho Lokrinos kolpos, Strab: Lago Lucrino), a salt-water
lake or lagoon, adjoining the gulf of Baiae on the coast of Campania. It was situated
just at the bight or inmost point of the deep bay between Puteoli and Baiae, and
was separated from the outer sea only by a narrow strip or bank of sand, in all
probability of natural origin, but the construction of which was ascribed by a
tradition or legend, frequently alluded to by the Roman poets, to Hercules, and
the road along it is said to have been commonly called in consequence, the Via
Herculea or Heraclea. According to Strabo it was 8 stadia in length, and wide
enough to admit of a road for waggons. (Diod. iv. 22 ; Strab. v. p. 245; Lycophr.
Alex. 697 ; Propert. iv. 18. 4; Sil. ltal. xii. 116--120.) On the other side,
the Lucrine lake was separated only by a narrow space from the lake Avernus, which
was, however, of a wholly different character, being a deep basin of fresh water,
formed in the crater of an extinct volcano; while the Lacus Lucrinus, in common
with all similar lagoons, was very shallow, and was for that reason well adapted
for producing oysters and other shell-fish, for the excellence of which it was
celebrated. (Hor. Epod. ii. 49, Sat. ii. 4. 32; Juven. iv. 141; Petron. Sat. p.
424; Martial, vi. 11. 5, xiii. 90; Varr. ap. Non. p. 216.) These oyster-beds were
so valuable as to be farmed out at a high price, and Caesar was induced by the
contractors to repair the dyke of Hercules for their protection. (Serv. ad Georg.
ii. 161.)
The Lucrine lake is otherwise known chiefly in connection with the
great works of Agrippa for the construction of the so-called Julius Portus, alluded
to in two well-known passages of Virgil and Horace. (Virg. Georg. ii. 161-163;
Hor. Ars Poet. 63.) It is not easy to understand exactly the nature of these works;
but the object of Agrippa was obviously to obtain a perfectly secure and land-locked
basin, for anchoring his fleet and for exercising his newly-raised crews and rowers.
For this purpose he seems to have opened an entrance to the lake Avernus by a
cut or canal from the Lucrine lake, and must, at the same time, have opened a
channel from the latter into the bay, sufficiently deep for the passage of large
vessels. But, together with this work, he strengthened the natural barrier of
the Lucrine lake against the sea by an artificial dyke or dam, so as to prevent
the waves from breaking over it as they previously did during heavy gales. (Strab.
v. p. 245; Dion Cass. xlviii. 50; Suet. Aug. 16; Veil. Pat. ii. 79; Serv. et Philargyr.
ad Virg. l. c.; Plin. xxxvi. 15. s. 24.) It is clear from the accounts of these
works that they were perfectly successful for a time, and they appear to have
excited the greatest admiration; but they were soon abandoned, probably from the
natural difficulties proving insuperable; and, from the time that the station
of the Roman fleet was established at Misenum, we hear no more of the Julian Port.
Even in the time of Strabo it seems to have fallen into complete disuse, for he
says distinctly, that the lake Avernus was deep and well adapted for a port, but
could not be used as such on account of the Lucrine lake, which was shallow and
broad, lying between it and the sea (v. p. 244). And again, a little further on
(p. 245), he speaks of the latter as useless as a harbour, and accessible only
to small vessels, but producing abundance of oysters. At a later period Cassiodorus
(Var. ix. 6) describes it in a manner which implies that a communication was still
open with the lake Avernus as well as with the sea. The two lakes are now separated
by a considerable breadth of low sandy ground, but it is probable that this was
formed in great part by the memorable volcanic eruption of 1538, when the hill
now called Monte Nuovo, 413 feet in height and above 8000 feet in circumference,
was thrown up in the course of two days, and a large part of the Lucrine lake
filled up at the same time. Hence the present aspect of the lake, which is reduced
to a mere marshy pool full of reeds, affords little assistance in comprehending
the ancient localities. (Daubeny, On Volcanoes, pp. 208-210.) It is said that
some portions of the piers of the port of Agrippa, as well as part of the dyke
or bank ascribed to Hercules, are still visible under the level of the water.
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
CAMPANIA (Region) ITALY
Minervae Promontorium (to Athenaion akroterion, Strab.: Punta della
Campanella), a promontory on the coast of Campania, opposite to the island of
Capreae, forming the southern boundary of the celebrated Crater or Bay of Naples.
It is a bold and rocky headland, constituting the extremity of a mountain ridge,
which branches off from the main mass of the Apennines near Nuceria, and forms
a great mountain promontory, about 25 miles in length, which separates the Bay
of Naples from that of Paestum or Salerno. The actual headland derived its name
from a temple of Minerva, situated on its summit, which was said to have been
founded by Ulysses (Strab. v. p. 247): it was separated by a channel of only 3
miles in width from the island of Capreae (Capri). On the S. side of the promontory,
but about 5 miles from the extreme headland, are some small rocky islets now called
Li Galli, very bold and picturesque in appearance, which were selected by tradition
as the abode of the Sirens, and hence named the Sirenusae Insulae (Seirenoussai
nesoi, Ptol. iii. 1. § 79; Strab. v. p. 247; Pseud. Arist. Mirab. 110). From the
proximity of these, according to Strabo, the headland itself was sometimes called
the Promontory of the Sirens (Seirenousson akroterion), but all other writers
give it the more usual appellation of Promontory of Minerva, though Pliny adds
that it had once been the abode of the Sirens; and there was an ancient temple
on the side towards Surrentum in honour of those mythical beings, which had at
one time been an object of great veneration to the surrounding population. (Strab.
v. pp. 242, 247; Plin. iii. 5. s. 9; Pseud. Arist. l. c.; Ovid. Met. xv. 709;
Mel. ii. 4. § 9; Liv. xlii. 20.) Tacitus in one passage calls the headland Surrentinum
Promontorium, from its proximity to the town of Surrentum, from which it was only
5 miles distant; and Statius also speaks of the temple of Minerva as situated
in vertice Surrentino. (Tac. Ann. iv. 67; Stat. Silv. v. 3. 165.)
The Promontory of Minerva is a point of considerable importance in
the coast-line of Italy: hence we find it selected in B.C. 181 as the point of
demarcation for the two squadrons which were appointed to clear the sea of pirates;
the one protecting the coasts from thence to Massilia, the other those on the
S. as far as the entrance of the Adriatic. (Liv. xl. 18.) In B.C. 36 a part of
the fleet of Augustus, under Appius Claudius, on its voyage from Misenum to Sicily,
encountered a tempest in passing this cape, from which it suffered heavy loss.
(Appian, B.C. v. 98.) It is mentioned also by Lucilius as a point of importance
in his voyage along the coast of Italy. (Lucil. Sat. iii. Fr. 10.)
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
ELEA (Ancient city) ITALY
Palinurus or Palinuri Promontorium (Palinouros akroterion, Strab.:
Capo Paliuro), a promontory on the coast of Lucania, on the Tyrrhenian sea, between
Velia and Buxentum. It had a port of the same name immediately adjoining it, which
still bears the name of the Porto di Palinuro. Both headland and port received
their name from the well-known tradition, recorded by Virgil, and alluded to by
many other Latin writers, that it was here that Palinurus, the pilot of Aeneas,
was cast on shore and buried. (Virg. Aen. v. 833-871, vi. 337-381; Dionys. i.
53; Lucan ix.42; Mel. ii. 4. § 9; Solin. 2. § 13.) We learn from Servius that
heroic honours were paid him by the Lucanians (probably by the citizens of Velia),
and that he had a cenotaph and sacred grove not far from that city. (Serv. ad
Aen. vi. 278.) It does not appear that there was ever a town adjoining the headland;
and the port, which is small, though secure and well sheltered, is mentioned only
by Dionysius; but the promontory is noticed by all the geographers except Ptolemy,
and is described by Pliny as forming the northern boundary of a great bay which
might be considered as extending to the Colaumna Rhegina, or the headland on the
Sicilian straits. It is in fact the most salient point of the projecting mass
of mountains which separate the gulf of Posidonia from that of Laus or Policastro,
and form the chief natural feature of the coast of Lucania. (Plin. iii. 5. s.
10; Mel ii. 4. § 9; Strab. vi. p. 252; Oros. iv. 9.) Some ruins of ancient buildings
are still visible on the summit of the headland, which are popularly known as
the tomb of Palinurus. The promontory still retains its ancient name, though vulgarly
corrupted into that of Palonudo.
Like most mountain promontories, that of Palinurus was subject to
sudden and violent storms, and became, in consequence, on two occasions the scene
of great disasters to the Roman fleets.. The first was in B.C. 253, when a fleet
under the consuls Servilius Caepio and Sempronius Blaesus, on its return from
Africa, was shipwrecked on the coast about Cape Palinurus, and 150 vessels lost
with all the booty on board. (Oros. iv. 9.) The second was in B.C. 36, when a
considerable part of the fleet of Augustus, on its way to Sicily, having been
compelled by a tempest to seek refuge in the bay or roadstead of Velia, was lost
on the rocky coast between that city and the adjoining headland of Palinurus.
(Dion Cass. xlix. 1; Appian, B.C. v. 98; Vell. Pat. ii. 79.)
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
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