Listed 26 sub titles with search on: Various locations for wider area of: "SICILY Island ITALY" .
AETNA (Mountain) SICILY
Acis (Akis), a river of Sicily, on the eastern coast of the island,
and immediately at the foot of Aetna. It is celebrated on account of the mythological
fable connected with its origin, which was ascribed to the blood of the youthful
Acis, crushed under an enormous rock by his rival Polyphemus. (Ovid. Met. xiii.
750, &c.; Sil. Ital. xiv. 221-226; Anth. Lat. i. 148; Serv. ad Virg. Eel. ix.
39, who erroneously writes the name Acinius.) It is evidently in allusion to the
same story that Theocritus speaks of the sacred waters of Acis. (Akidos hieron
hudor, Idyll. i. 69.) From this fable itself we may infer that it was a small
stream gushing forth from under a rock; the extreme coldness of its waters noticed
by Solinus (Solin. 5. § 17) also points to the same conclusion. The last circumstance
might lead us to identify it with the stream now called Fiume Freddo, but there
is every appearance that the town of Acium derived its name from the river, and
this was certainly further south. There can be no doubt that Cluverius is right
in identifying it with the little river still called Fiume di Jaci, known also
by the name of the Acque Grandi, which rises under a rock of lava, and has a very
short course to the sea, passing by the modern town of Aci Reale (Acium). The
Acis was certainly quite distinct from the Acesines or Asines, with which it has
been confounded by several writers. (Cluver. Sicil. p. 115; Smyth's Sicily, p.
132; Ortolani, Diz. Geogr. p. 9; Ferrara, Descriz. dell' Etna, p. 32.)
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Acium, a small town on the E. coast of Sicily, mentioned only in the Itinerary
(Itin. Ant. p 87), which places it on the high road from Catana to Tauromenium,
at the distance of 9 M. P. from the former city. It evidently derived its name
from the little river Acis, and is probably identical with the modern Act Reale,
a considerable town, about a mile from the sea, in the neighbourhood of which,
on the road to Catania, are extensive remains of Roman Thermae. (Biscari, Viaggio
in Sicilia, p. 22; Ortolani, Diz. Geogr. p. 9.)
AGYRION (Ancient city) SICILY
Ameselum (to Ameselon) a town of Sicily, mentioned only by Diodorus (xxii. Exc.
Hoesch. p.499), from whom we learn that it was situated between Centuripi and
Agyrium, in a position of great natural strength. It was taken, in B.C. 269, by
Hieron king of Syracuse, who destroyed the city and fortress, and divided its
territory between its two neighbours the Centuripini and Agyrians. Its exact site
is unknown.
CATANI (Ancient city) SICILY
Pantagias (Pantakias, Thuc.; Pantachos, Ptol.: Porcari), a small river
on the E. coast of Sicily, flowing into the sea between Catania and Syracuse,
a few miles to the N. of the promontory of Sta Croce. It is alluded to both by
Virgil and Ovid, who agree in distinctly placing it to the N. of Megara, between
that city and the mouth of the Symaethus; thus confirming the authority of Ptolemy,
while Pliny inaccurately enumerates it after Megara, as if it lay between that
city and Syracuse. Its name is noticed both by Silius Italicus and Claudian, but
without any clue to its position; but the characteristic expression of Virgil,
vivo ostia saxo Pantagiae, leaves no doubt that the stream meant is the one now
called the Poredri, which flows through a deep ravine between calcareous rocks
at its mouth, affording a small but secure harbour for small vessels. (Virg. Aen.
iii. 689; Ovid, Fast. iv. 471; Sil. Ital. xiv. 231; Claudian, Rapt. Pros. ii.
58; Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 9; Cluver. Sicil. p. 131.) It is but
a small stream and easily fordable, as described by Silius Italicus, but when
swollen by winter rains becomes a formidable torren<*>, whence Claudian calls
it saxa rotantem: but the story told by Servius and Vibius Sequester of its deriving
its name from the noise caused by its tumultuous waters, is a mere grammatical
fiction. (Serv. ad Aen. l. c.; Vib. Seq. p. 16.)
Thucydides tells us that the Megarian colonists in Sicily, previous
to the foundation of the Hyblaean Megara, established themselves for a short time
at a place called Trotilus, above the river Pantagias, or (as he writes it) Pantacias
(Thuc. vi. 4). The name is otherwise wholly unknown, but the site now occupied
by the village and castle of La Bruca, on a tongue of rock commanding the entrance
of the harbour and river, is probably the locality meant. (Smyth's Sicily, p.
159.)
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Terias (Terias: Fiume di S. Leonardo), a river of Sicily, on the E. coast of the island, flowing into the sea between Catana and Syracuse. It is mentioned by Pliny (iii. 8. s. 14) immediately after the Syimaethus; and Scylax tells us it was navigable for the distance of 20 stadia up to Leontini. (Scyl. p. 4. § 13.) Though this last statement is not quite accurate, inasmuch as Leontini is at least 60 stadia from the sea, it leaves little doubt that the river meant is that now called the Flume di S. Leonardo, which flows from the Lake of Lentini (which is not mentioned by any ancient author) to the sea. It has its outlet in a small bay or cove, which affords a tolerable shelter for shipping. Hence we find the mouth of the Terias twice selected by the Athenians as a halting-place, while proceeding with their fleet along the E. coast of Sicily. (Thuc. vi. 50, 96.) The connection of the Terias with Leontini is confirmed by Diodorus, who tells us that Dionysius encamped on the banks of that river near the city of Leontini. (Diod. xiv. 14.)
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Xiphonius portus (Xiphoneios limen, Scyl. p. 4: Bay of Augusta), a spacious harbour on the E. coast of Sicily, between Catana and Syracuse. It is remarkable that this, though one of the largest and most important natural harbours on the coasts of Sicily, is rarely mentioned by ancient authors. Scylax, indeed, is the only writer who has preserved to us its name as that of a port. Strabo speaks of the Xiphonian Promontory (to tes Hxiphonias akroterio, vi. p. 267), by which he evidently means the projecting headland near its entrance, now called the Capo di Santa Croce. Diodorus also mentions that the Carthaginian fleet, in B.C. 263 touched at Xiphonia on its way to Syracuse (eis ten, Xiphonian, xxiii. 4. p. 502). None of these authors allude to the existence of a town of this name, and it is probably a mistake of Stephanus of Byzantium, who speaks of Xiphonia as a city (s. v.). The harbour or bay of Augusta is a spacious gulf, considerably larger than the Great Harbour of Syracuse, and extending from the Capo di Santa Croce to the low peninsula or promontory of Magnisi (the ancient Thapsus). But it is probable that the port designated by Scylax was a much smaller one, close to the modern city of Augusta, which occupies a low peninsular point or tongue of land that projects from near the N. extremity of the bay, and strongly resembles the position of the island of Ortygia, at Syracuse, except that it is not quite separated from the mainland. It is very singular that so remarkable and advantageous a situation should not have been taken advantage of by the Greek colonists in Sicily; but we have no trace of any ancient town on the spot, unless it were the site of the ancient Megara. The modern town of Augusta, or Agosta, was founded in the 13th century by Frederic II.
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IRAKLIA MINOA (Ancient city) SICILY
Halycus (Halukos). A river in the south of Sicily, flowing into the sea near Heraclea Minoa.
LEONTINI (Ancient city) SICILY
Palicorum lacus (he ton Palikon limne: Lago di Naftia), a small volcanic
lake in the interior of Sicily, near Palagonia, about 15 miles W. of Leontini.
It is a mere pool, being not more than 480 feet in circumference, but early attracted
attention from the remarkable phenomena caused by two jets of volcanic gas, which
rise under the water, causing a violent ebullition, and sometimes throwing up
the water to a considerable height. On this account the spot was, from an early
period, considered sacred, and consecrated to the indigenous deities called the
Palici, who had a temple on the spot. This enjoyed the privileges of an asylum
for fugitive slaves, and was much resorted to also for determining controversies
by oaths; an oath taken by the holy springs, or craters as they are called, being
considered to possess peculiar sanctity, and its violation to be punished on the
spot by the death of the offender. The remarkable phenomena of the locality are
described in detail by Diodorus, as well as by several other writers, and notwithstanding
some slight discrepancies, leave no doubt that the spot was the same now called
the Lago di Naftia, from the naphtha with which, as well as sulphur, the sources
are strongly impregnated. It would, however, seem that in ancient times there
were two separate pools or craters, sometimes termed fountains (krenai), and that
they did not, as at the present day, form one more considerable pool or lake.
Hence they are alluded to by Ovid as Stagna Palicorum ; while Virgil notices only
the sanctuary or altar, pinguis et placabilis ara Palici. (Diod. xi. 89; Steph.
Byz. s. v. Palike; Pseud.-Arist. Mirab. 58; Macrob. Sat. v. 19; Strab. vi. p.
275; Ovid, Met. v. 406; Virg. Aen. ix. 585; Sil. Ital. xiv. 219; Nonn. Dionys.
xiii. 311.) The sacred character of the spot as an asylum for fugitive slaves
caused it to be selected for the place where the great servile insurrection of
Sicily in B.C. 102 was first discussed and arranged; and for the same reason Salvius,
the leader of the insurgents, made splendid offerings at the shrine of the Palici.
(Diod. xxxvi. 3, 7.)
There was not in early times any other settlement besides the sanctuary
and its appurtenances, adjoining the lake of the Palici; but in B.C. 453, Ducetius,
the celebrated chief of the Siculi, founded a city close to the lake, to which
he gave the name of Palica (Palike), and to which he transferred the inhabitants
of Menaenum and other neighbouring towns. This city rose for a short time to considerable
prosperity; but was destroyed again shortly after the death of Ducetius, and never
afterwards restored. (Diod. xi. 88, 90.) Hence the notices of it in Stephanus
of Byzantium and other writers can only refer to this brief period of its existence.
(Steph. B. l. c.; Polemon, ap. Macrob. l. c.) The modern town of Palagonia is
thought to retain the traces of the name of Palica, but certainly does not occupy
the site of the city of Ducetius, being situated on a lofty hill, at some distance
from the Lago di Naftia. Some remains of the temple and other buildings were still
visible in the days of Fazello in the neighbourhood of the lake. The locality
is fully described by him, and more recently by the Abate Ferrara. (Fazell. de
Reb. Sic. iii. 2; Ferrara, Campi Flegrei della Sicilia, pp. 48,105.)
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LILYBAEUM (Ancient city) SICILY
Aegithallus (Aighiphallos, Diod.; Aighithalos, Zonar.; Aighitharos,
Ptol.) a promontory on the W. coast of Sicily, near Lilybaeum, which was occupied
and fortified by the Roman consul L. Junius during the First Punic War (B.C. 249),
with a view to support the operations against Lilybaeum, but was recovered by
the Carthaginian general Carthalo, and occupied with a strong garrison. Diodorus
tells us it was called in his time Acellum, but it is evidently the same with
the Aighitharos akra of Ptolemy, which he places between Drepanum and Lilybaeum;
and is probably the headland now called Capo S. Teodoro, which is immediately
opposite to the island of Burrone. (Diod. xxiv. Exc. H. p. 50; Zonar. viii. 15:
Ptol. iii. 4. § 4; Cluver. Sicil. p. 248.)
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MILAZZO (Town) SICILY
Longanus (Longanos), a river in the N. of Sicily, not far from Mylae
(Milazzo), celebrated for the victory of Hieron, king of Syracuse, over the Mamertines
in B.C. 270 (Pol. i. 9 ; Diod. xxii. 13; Exc. H. p. 499, where the name is written
Loitanos, but the same river is undoubtedly meant). Polybius describes it as in
the plain of Mylae (en toi Mulaioi pedioi), but it is impossible to say, with
certainty, which of the small rivers that flow into the sea near that town is
the one meant. The Fiume di Santa Lucia, about three miles southwest of Milazzo,
has perhaps the best claim; though Cluverius fixes on the Flume di Castro Reale,
a little more distant from that city. (Cluv. Sicil. p. 303.)
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MORGANTINA (Ancient city) SICILY
Now Giaretta; a river on the east coast of Sicily and at the foot of Mount Aetna, forming the boundary between Leontini and Catana.
PANORMOS (Ancient city) SICILY
Nebrodes Mons (ta Neurode ore, Strab.: Monti di Madonia), one of the
most considerable ranges of mountains in Sicily. The name was evidently applied
to a part of the range which commences near Cape Pelorus, and extends along the
northern side of the island, the whole way to the neighbourhood of Panormus. Though
broken into various mountain groups, there is no real interruption in the chain
throughout this extent, and the names applied to different parts of it seem to
have been employed (as usual in such cases) with much vagueness. The part of the
chain nearest to Cape Pelorus, was called Mons Neptunius, and therefore the Mons
Nebrodes must have been further to the west. Strabo speaks of it as rising opposite
to Aetna, so that he would seem to apply the name to the mountains between that
peak and the northern coast, which are still covered with the extensive forests
of Caronia. Silius Italicus, on the other hand, tells us that it was in the Mons
Nebrodes the two rivers of the name of Himera had their sources, which can refer
only to the more westerly group of the Monti di Madonia, the most lofty range
in Sicily after Aetna, and this indentification is generally adopted. But, as
already observed, there is no real distinction between the two. Silius Italicus
speaks of the Mons Nebrodes as covered with forests, and Solinus derives its name
from the number of fawns that wandered through them; an etymology obviously fictitious.
(Strab. vi. p. 274; Solin. 5. §§ 11, 12; Sil. Ital. xiv. 236; Cluver. Sicil. p.
364; Fazell. de Reb. Sic. x. 2. p. 414.)
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SIKELIA (Ancient Hellenic lands) ITALY
River in Sicily.
Perseus Project Index. Total results on 27/4/2001: 5 for Asinarus.
Crimisus or Crimissus (Krimisos, Lycophr., Dion. Hal.; Krimesos, Plut.; Krimissos, Ael.), a river of Sicily, in the neighbourhood of Segesta, celebrated for the great battle fought on its banks in B.C. 339, in which Timoleon, with only about 11,000 troops, partly Syracusans, partly mercenaries, totally defeated a Carthaginian army of above 70,000 men. This victory was one of the greatest blows ever sustained by the Carthaginian power, and secured to the Greek cities in Sicily a long period of tranquillity. (Plut. Timol. 25-29; Diod. xvi. 77-81; Corn. Nep. Tim. 2.) But though the battle itself is described in considerable detail both by Plutarch and Diodorus, they afford scarcely any information concerning its locality, except that it was fought in the part of the island at that time subject to Carthage (en tei ton Karchedonion epikrateiai). The river Crimisus itself is described as a considerable stream, which being flooded at the time by storms of rain, contributed much to cause confusion in the Carthaginian army. Yet its name is not found in any of the ancient geographers, and the only clue to its position is afforded by the fables which connect it with the city of Segesta. According to the legend received among the Greeks, Aegestes or Aegestus (the Acestes of Virgil), the founder and eponymous hero of Egesta, was the son of a Trojan woman by the river-god Crimisus, who cohabited with her under the form of a dog. (Lycophr. 961; Tzetz. ad loc.; Virg. Aen. v. 38; and Serv. ad Aen. i. 550.) For this reason the river Crimisus continued to be worshipped by the Segestans, and its effigy as a dog was placed on their coins (Ael. V. H. ii. 33; Eckhel, vol. i. p. 234): Dionysius also distinctly speaks of the Trojans under Elymus and Aegestus as settling in the territory of the Sicani, about the river Crimisus (i. 52); hence it seems certain that we must look for that river in the neighbourhood, or at least within the territory of Segesta, and it is probable that Fazello was correct in identifying it with the stream now called Fiume di S. Bartolommeo or Fizmne Freddo, which flows about 5 miles E. of Segesta, and falls into the Gulf of Castellamare at a short distance from the town of that name. Cluverius supposed it to be the stream which flows by the ruins of Entella, and falls into the Hypsas or Belici, thus flowing to the S. coast: but the arguments which he derives from the account of the operations of Timoleon are not sufficient to outweigh those which connect the Crimisus with Segesta. (Fazell. de Reb. Sic. vii. p. 299; Cluver. Sicil. p. 269.)
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Siculum Mare (to Sikelikon pelagos, Pol. Strab. &c.), was the name
given in ancient times to that portion of the Mediterranean sea which bathed the
eastern shores of Sicily. But like all similar appellations, the name was used
in a somewhat vague and fluctuating manner, so that it is difficult to fix its
precise geographical limits. Thus Strabo describes it as extending along the eastern
shore of Sicily, from the Straits to Cape Pachynus, with the southern shore of
Italy as far as Locri, and again to the eastward as far as Crete and the Peloponnese;
and as filling the Corinthian Gulf, and extending northwards to the Iapygian promontory
and the mouth of the Ionian gulf. (Strab. ii. p. 123.) It is clear, therefore,
that he included under the name the whole of the sea between the Peloponnese and
Sicily, which is more commonly known as the Ionian sea, but was termed by later
writers the Adriatic. Polybius, who in one passage employs the name of Ionian
sea in this more extensive sense, elsewhere uses that of the Sicilian sea in the
same general manner as Strabo, since he speaks of the island of Cephallenia as
extending out towards the Sicilian sea (v. 3); and even describes the Ambracian
gulf as an inlet or arm of the Sicilian sea (iv. 63, v. 5). Eratosthenes also,
it would appear from Pliny, applied the name of Siculum Mare to the whole extent
from Sicily to Crete. (Plin. iii. 5. s. 10.) The usage of Pliny himself is obscure;
but Mela distinguishes the Sicilian sea from the Ionian, applying the former name
to the western part of the broad sea, nearest to Sicily, and the latter to its
more easterly portion, nearest to Greece. (Mel. ii. 4. § 1.) But this distinction
does not seem to have been generally adopted or continued long in use. Indeed
the name of the Sicilian sea seems to have fallen much into disuse. Ptolemy speaks
of Sicily itself as bounded on the N. by the Tyrrhenian sea, on the S. by the
African, and on the E. by the Adriatic; thus omitting the Sicilian sea altogether
(Ptol. iii. 4. § 1); and this seems to have continued under the Roman Empire to
be the received nomenclature.
Strabo tells us that the Sicilian sea was the same which had previously
been called the Ausonian (Strab. ii. p. 133, v. p. 233); but it is probable that
that name was never applied in the more extended sense in which he uses the Sicilian
sea, but was confined to the portion more immediately adjoining the southern coasts
of Italy, from Sicily to the Iapygian promontory. It is in this sense that it
is employed by Pliny, as well as by Polybius, whom he cites as his authority.
(Plin. l. c.)
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Halycus (Halukos: Platani), a considerable river of Sicily, which rises nearly in the centre of the island, and flows towards the SW. till it enters the sea close to the site of Heracleia Minoa. Its name was evidently derived from the salt or brackish quality of its waters, a circumstance common to those of the Platani and of the Fiume Salso (the ancient Himera), and arising from the salt springs which abound in this part of Sicily. It obtained considerable historical importance from the circumstance that it long formed the eastern boundary of the Carthaginian dominions in Sicily. This was first established by the treaty concluded, in B.C. 383, between that people and Dionysius of Syracuse (Diod. xv. 17): and the same limit was again fixed by the treaty between them and Timoleon (Id. xvi. 82). It would appear, however, chat the city of Heracleia, situated at its mouth, but on the left bank, was in both instances retained by the Carthaginians. The Halycus is again mentioned by Diodorus in the First Punic War (B.C. 249), as the station to which the Carthaginian fleet under Carthalo retired after its unsuccessful attack on that of the Romans near Phintias, and where they awaited the approach of a second Roman fleet under the consul L. Junius. (Diod. xxiv. 1.; Exc. Hoesch. p. 508.) Polybius, who relates the same events, does not mention the name of the river (Polyb. i. 53): but there is certainly no reason to suppose (as Mannert and Forbiger have done) that the river here meant was any other than the well-known Halycus, and that there must therefore have been two rivers of the name. Heracleides Ponticus, who mentions the landing of Minos in this part of Sicily, and his alleged foundation of Minoa, writes the name Lycus, which is probably a mere false reading for Halycus. (Heracl. Pont. § 29, ed. Schneidewin.) Though a stream of considerable magnitude and importance, it is singular that its name is not mentioned by any of the geographers.
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SYRACUSSES (Ancient city) SICILY
Island off Syracuse.
Perseus Project Index. Total results on 27/4/2001: 81
Anapus (Anapos). (Anapo), one of the most celebrated and considerable
rivers of Sicily, which risesabout a mile from the modern town of Buscemi, not
far from the site of Acrae; and flows into the great harbour of Syracuse. About
three quarters of a mile from its mouth, and just at the foot of the hill on which
stood the Olympieium, it receives the waters of the Cyane. Its banks for a considerable
distance from its mouth are bordered by marshes, which rendered them at all times
unhealthy; and the fevers and pestilence thus generated were among the chief causes
of disaster to the Athenians, and still more to the Carthaginians, during the
several sieges of Syracuse. But above these marshes the valley through which it
flows is one of great beauty, and the waters of the Anapus itself are extremely
limpid and clear, and of great depth. Like many rivers in a limestone country
it rises all at once with a considerable volume of water, which is, however, nearly
doubled by the accession of the Cyane. The tutelary divinity of the stream was
worshipped by the Syracusans under the form of a young man (Ael. V. H. ii. 33),
who was regarded as the husband of the nymph Cyane. (Ovid. Met. v. 416.) The river
is now commonly known as the Alfeo, evidently from a misconception of the story
of Alpheus and Arethusa; but is also called and marked on all maps as the Anapo.
(Thuc. vi. 96, vii. 78; Theocr. i. 68; Plut. Dion. 27, Timol. 21; Liv. xxiv. 36;
Ovid. Ex Pont. ii. 26; Vib. Seq. p. 4; Oberlin, ad loc.; Fazell. iv. 1, p. 196.)
It is probable that the Palus Lysimeleia (he limne he Lusimeleia kaloumene)
mentioned by Thucydides (vii. 53), was a part of the marshes formed by the Anapus
near its mouth. A marshy or stagnant pool of some extent still exists between
the site of the Neapolis of Syracuse and the mouth of the river, to which the
name may with some probability be assigned.
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Asinarus or Assinarus (Asinaros, Diod. Plut. Assinaros, Thuc.), a small river on the E. coast of Sicily, between Syracuse and Helorus; memorable as the scene of the final catastrophe of the Athenian armament in Sicily, and the surrender of Nicias with the remains of his division of the army. (Thuc. vii. 84, 85; Diod. xiii. 19; Plut. Nic. 27.) It is clearly identified by the circumstances of the retreat (as related in detail by Thucydides), with the river now called the Falconara, but more commonly known as the Fiume di Noto, from its proximity to that city. It rises just below the site of the ancient Neetum (Noto Vecohio), and after flowing under the walls of the modern Noto, enters the sea in a little bay called Ballata di Noto, about 4 miles N. of the mouth of the Helorus (F. Abisso). Being supplied from several subterranean and perennial sources it has a considerable body of water, as described by Thucydides in the above passage. A curious monument still extant near Helorum is commonly supposed to have been erected to commemorate the victory of the Syracusans on this occasion; but it seems too far from the river to have been designed for such an object. Plutarch tells us (Nic. 28), that the Syracusans instituted on the occasion a festival called Asinaria; and it is said that this is still celebrated at the present day, though now converted to the honour of a saint. (Smyth's Sicily, p. 179; Fazell. de Reb. Sic. iv. 1. p. 198; Cluver. Sicil. p. 184.)
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TAVROMENION (Ancient city) SICILY
Acesines (Akesines), a river of Sicily, which flows, into the sea
to the south of Tauromenium. Its name occurs only in Thucydides (iv. 25) on occasion
of the attack made on Naxos by the Messenians in B.C. 425 : but it is evidently
the same river which is called by Pliny (iii. 8) Asines, and by Vibius Sequester
(p. 4) Asinius. Both these writers place it in the immediate neighbourhood of
Tauromenium, and it can be no other than the river now called by the Arabic name
of Cantara, a considerable stream, which, after following throughout its course
the northern boundary of Aetna, discharges itself into the sea immediately to
the S. of Capo Schizo, the site of the ancient Naxos. The Onobalas of Appian (B.C.
v. 109) is probably only another name for the same river. Cluverius appears to
be mistaken in regarding the Flume Freddo as the Acesines : it is a very small
stream, while the Cantara is one of the largest rivers in Sicily, and could hardly
have been omitted by Pliny. (Cluver. Sicil. p. 93; Mannert, vol. ix. pt. ii. p.
284.)
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SIKELIA (Ancient Hellenic lands) ITALY
Pachynus (Pachunos: Capo Passaro), a celebrated promontory of Sicily,
forming the extreme SE. point of the whole island, and one of the three promontories
which were supposed to have given to it the name of Trinacria. (Ovid, Fast. iv.
479, Met. xiii. 725; Dionys. Per. 467-472; Scyl. p. 4. § 13; Pol. i. 42; Strab.
vi. pp. 265, 272, &c.; Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 8; Mela, ii. 7. §
15.)
All the ancient geographers correctly describe it as extending out
towards the S. and E. so as to be the point of Sicily that was the most nearly
opposite to Crete and the Peloponnese. It is at the same time the southernmost
point of the whole inland. The headland itself is not lofty, but formed by bold
projecting rocks (projecta saxa Puchyni, Virg. Aen. iii. 699), and immediately
off it lies a small rocky island of considerable elevation, which appears to have
been generally regarded as forming the actual promontory. This explains the expression
of Nonnus, who speaks of the island rock of the seagirt Pachynus. (Dionys. xiii.
322.) Lycophron also has a similar phrase. (Alex. 1181.)
We learn from Cicero (Verr. v. 34) that there was a port in the immediate
neighbourhood of the promontory to which he gives the name of Portus Pachyni:
it was here that the fleet of Verres was stationed under his officer Cleomenes,
when the news that a squadron of pirates was in the neighbouring Port of Ulysses
(Portus Odysseae) caused that commander to take to flight with precipitation.
The Port of Ulysses is otherwise unknown; but Ptolemy gives the name of Promontory
of Ulysses (Odusseia akra, Ptol. iii. 4. § 7) to a point on the S. coast of the
island, a little to the W. of Cape Pachynus. It is therefore probable that the
Portus Pachyni was the one now called Porto di Palo, immediately adjoining the
promontory, while the Portus Odysseae may be identified with the small bay or
harbour of La Marza about 6 miles distant. There are, however, several rocky coves
to which the name of ports may be applied, and the determination must therefore
be in great measure conjectural. (Smyth's Sicily, pp. 181,185,186.) The convenience
of this port at the extreme SE. point of the island caused it to be a frequent
place of rendezvous and station for fleets approaching Sicily; and on one occasion,
during the Second Punic War the Carthaginian commander Bomilcar appears to have
taken up his post in the port to the W. of the promontory, while the Roman fleet
lay immediately to the N. of it. (Liv. xxiv. 27, xxv. 27, xxxvi. 2.)
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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