Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1041

 SOLORIUS MONS. the most .listinct indication of its locality is afforded l)y a pas.-age of Festus (s. v. romonal, p. 250), v)iere he tells us " Pomunal est in agro Solonio, via Ostiensi, ad duodecimum lapidein, diverticulo a miliaiio octavo." It is thence evident that the ''ager Solonius" extended westward as far as the Via Ostiensis, and probably the whole tract border- ing on the territories of Ostia, Laurentum, and Ardea, was known by this name. It may well therefore have extended to the neighb(mrhooe Div. ii. 31.) It appears from one of his letters that he had a villa there, as well as iIa- rius, to which he talks of retiring la order to avoid contention at Rome {ad Att. ii. 3). The origin of the name is unknown; it ir.ay pro- bably have been derived from some extinct town of the name; but no trace of such is found. Dionysius, indeed, speaks of an Etruscan city of Solonium, from whence the Lucumo came to the assistance ot Komulus (Dionys. ii. 37); but the name is in all probability corrupt, and, at all events, cannot af- ford any explanation of the Latin district of the name. [K. H. B.] SOLO'RIUS MOMS, an offshoot of Mons Argen- tarius, running to the SW., on the borders of His- pania Tarraconensis and Baetica, and connecting iMount OrtospeJa with Mount Ilipula. (Plin. iii. 1. s. 2.) It is probably the same mountain mentioned by Strabo (iii. p. 156) as rich in gold and other mines, and the present Sierra Nevada. [T. H. D.] SO'LUS or SOLUNTUM (2oA(<e£?, Thuc; 2o- ovs, Diod. : Eth. 'SoKovvtIvos, Diod., but coins have 'SoKovtIvos; Soluntinus: Sulunto), a city of Si'ily, situated on the N. coast of the island, about 12 miles E. of Panormup, and immediately to the E. of the bold promontory called Capo Zaffaruna. It was a Phoenician colony, and from its proximity to Panornius was one of the few which that people re- tained when they gave way before the advance ot the Greek colonies in Sicily, and withdrew to tiie NW. corner of the island. (Time. vi. 2.) It after- wards passed together with Panormus and Motya into the hands of the Carthaginians, or at least became a <iependency of that people. It continued steadfast to the Carthaginian alliance evrn in B. c. 397, when the formidable armanent of Dionysius shook the fiJelity of most of their allies (Diod. xiv. 48); its territory was in consequence ravaged by Dionysius, but without effect. At a later period of the war (n. c. 396) it was betrayed into the hands of that despot (/&. 78), but probably soon fell again into the power of the Cartiiaginians. It was certainly one of the cities that usually formed part of their douiiuions in the island; and in b. c. 307 it was given up by them to the soldiers and mcicen.aries of Agathocles, who had made peace with the Cartha- ginians when abandoned by their leader in Africa. (Uiod. XX. 69.) During the First Punic War we lind it still subject to Carthage, and it was not till after the fall of Panormus that Soluntum also opened its gates to the Romans. (Id. xxiii. p. 505.) It continued to subsist under the Roman dominion as a municipal town, but apparently one of no great consideration, as its name is only slightly and occa- sif nally mentioned by Cicero. ( Verr. ii. 42, iii. 43.) But it is still noticed both by Pliny and Ptolemy (Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 3, where the name is corruptly written 'OAouA.r$), as well as at a later j)eri(jd by the Itineraries, which place it 12 miles from Panornuis and 12 from Thermae {Termini). SONTIA. 1021 {[tin. Ant. p. 91 ; Tab. Pent.) It is probable that its complete destruction dates from the time of the Saracens. At the present day the site of the ancient city is wholly desolate and uninhabited. It stood on a lofty hill, now called the Monte Catalfuno, at the foot of which is a small cove or port, with a fort, still called the Castello di Solanto, and a station for the tunny fishery. The traces of two ancient roads, paved with large blocks of stone, which led up to the city, may still be followed, and the whole summit of the hill is covered with fragments of ancient walls and foundations of buildings. Among the.se may bo traced the remains of two temples, of which some capitals, portions of friezes, &c. have been discovered; but it is impossible to trace the plan and design of these or any other edifices. They are probably all of them of the period of the Roman dominion. Several cisterns for water also remain, as well as sepulchres; and some fragments of sculpture of con- siderable merit have been discovered on the site. (Fazell. f/e Keh. Sic. viii. p. 352 ; Amico, Lex. Top. vol. ii. j)p. 192 — 195; Hoare's Class. Tour, vol. ii. p. 234; Serra di Falco, A7it. delta Sicilia, vol. v. pp. 60—67.) [E. H. B.] COIN OF SOLUS. SOLYGEIA, SOLYGEIUS. [CoRiNTHfs, pp. 684, b, 685, a.] SOLYMA (ru 2,6vixa), a high mountain near Phaselis in Lycia. (Strab. xiv. p. 666.) As the mountain is not mentioned by any other writer, it is probably only another name for the Chimaera Mons, the Olympus, or the mountains of the Solynii, mentioned by Homer. (Od. v. 283.) In the Sta- diasmus it is simply called the opos fxiya: it extends about 70 miles northward from Phaselis, and its highest point, now called Taghtalu.nnf^ immediately above the ruins of Pha.seli.s, which exactly corre- sponds with the statement of Strabo. (Leake, Asia J//«or, p. 189.) [I- S.] SOLYMI. [Lycia.] SOMENA. [SiMENA.] SONAUTES, according to Pliny (vi. 1), a river in Pontus; while, according to ApolNmius Rhodius (ii. 747), the Acheron in Bithynia was anciently called Soonantes (SooicauT?)?). [L. S.] SONEIU.M, a jjlace in Mocsia Superior, on the borders of Thrace, at the pass of M(nint Scomius, called Sticci. {Itin. llieros. p. 5(i7.) Mentitied with Barpia. [T. H. D.] SONISTA, a town in L^pper Pannonia, on the road from Poetovium to Siscia. (Geog. Rav. iv. 19; Tab. Pent.; It. Hieros. p. 561, where it is written Sunista.) Its exact site is unknown. [L. S.] SO'NTIA {Kth. Sontinus: Sauza), a town of Lucania, known only from Pliny, who enumerates the Sontini among the municipal towns of that pio- viuco (Plin. iii. 11. s. 15). It is probable that it is the same jilace now called Sau.:a, situated in the mountains about 12 miles N. of the C idf <>/' Poli- caslro. [K. n"B]