Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1217

 THUPJI. continued also to be on hostile, or at least unfriendly, terms with Dionysius of Syracuse, and was in con- sequence chosen as a place of retirement or exile by his brother Leptines and his friend Philistus (Diod. XV. 7). Tiie rise of the Bruttian people about b. c. 356 probably became the cause of the complete decline of Thurii, but the statement of Diodorus that the city was conquered by that people (xvi. 15) must be re- ceived with considerable doubt. It is certain at least that it reappears in history at a later period as an in- dependent Greek city, thuush much fallen from its fitrmer greatness. No mention of it is found during the wars of Alexander of Epirus in this part of Italy; but at a later period it was so hard pressed by the Lucanians that it had recourse to the alliance of Rome; and a Roman army was sent to its relief under C. Fabricius. That general defeated the Lucanians, who had actually laid siege to the city, in a pitched battle, and by several other successes to a great extent brcke their power, and thus re- lieved 'the Thurians from all immediate danger from that quarter. (Liv. Epit. xi.; Plin. sxsiv. 6. s. 15; Val. Max. i. 8. § 6.) But shortly after they were attacked on the other side by the Tarentines, who are said to have taken and plundered their city (Appian, Samn. 7. § 1); and this aggression was one of the immediate causes of the war declared by the Romans against Tarentum in b. c. 282. Thurii now sunk comjiletely into the condition of a dependent ally of Rome, and was protected by a Roman garrison. No mention is found of its name during the wars with Pyrrhus or the First Punic War, but it plays a considerable part in that with Hannibal. It was apparently one of the cities which revolted to the Carthaginians immediately after the battle of Cannae, though, in another passage, Livy seems to place its defection somewhat later. (Liv. xxii. 61, XXV. 1.) But in B.C. 213, the Thurians returned to their alliance with Rome, and received a Roman garrison into their city. (Id. xxv. 1.) The very next year, however, after the fall of Taren- tum, they changed sides again, and betrayed the Roman troops into the hands of the Carthaginian general Hanno. (Id. xxv. 15; Appian, Ilaiin. 34.) A few years later (b. c. 210), Hannibal, finding himself unable to protect his allies in Campania, re- moved the inhabitants of Atella who had survived the fall of their city to Thurii (Appian, Hann. 49); but it was not long before he was compelled to abandon the latter city also to its fate; and when he himself in b. c. 204 withdrew his forces into Bruttium, he removed to Crotona 3500 of the prin- cipal citizens of Thurii, while he gave up the city it- self to the plunder of his troops. (Appian, /. c. 57.) It is evident that Thurii was now sunk to the lowest state of decay; but the great fertility of its territory rendered it desirable to preserve it from utter deso- lation : hence in b. c. 194, it w.as one of the jilaces selected for the establishment of a Roman colony with Latin rights. (Liv. xxxiv. 53; Strab. vi. p. 263.) The number of colonists was small in pro- portion to the extent of land to be divided among them, but they amounted to 3000 foot and 300 knights. (Liv. xxxv. 9.) Livy .says merely that the colony was sent " in Thurinum agrum," and does not mention anything of a change of name; but Strabo tells us that they gave to the new colony the name of Copiak, and this statement is confirmed both by Stephanus of Byzantium, and by the evi- dence of coins, on which, however, the name is written CopiA. (Strab. /. c; Steph. Byz. s. v. Qovpiot; TnURII. II 03 Eckhcl, vol. i. p. 164.) But this new name did not continue long in use, and Thurii still continued to be known by its ancient apijcllation. It is men- tioned as a municipal town on several occasions during the latter ages of the Republic. In b. c. 72 it was taken by Spartacus, and subjected to heavy contributions, but not otherwise injured. (Appian, B. a. i. 117.) At the outbreak of the Civil Wars it was deemed by Caesar of sufficient importance to be secured with a garrison of Gaulish and Spanish horse; and it was there that M. Coelius was put to death, after a vain attempt to excite an insurrection in this part of Italy. (Caes. B. C. iii. 21, 22.) In B. c. 40 also it was attacked by Scxtus Pompeius, who laid waste its territory, but was repulsed from the walls of the city. (Appian, B. C. v. 56, 58.) It is certain therefore that Thurii was at this time still a place of some importance, and it is mentioned as a still existing town by Pliny and Ptolemy, as well as Strabo. (Strab. vi. p. 263; Plin. iii. 11. s. 15; Ptol. iii. 1. § 12.) It was pro-' bably, indeed, the only place of any consideration remaining on the coast of the Tarentine gulf, be- tween Crotona and Tarentum; both Metapontum and Heraclea having already fallen into almost com- plete decay. Its name is still found in the Itineraries (^Itui. Ant. ^. 1 14, where it is written "Turios;" Tab. Pent.') ; and it is noticed by Procopius as still existing in the 6th century. (Procop. B. G. i. 15.) The period of its final decay is uncertain; but it seems to have been abandoned during the middle ages, when the inhabitants took refuge at a place called Terranora, about 12 miles inland, on a hill on the left bank of the Crathis. The exact site of Thurii has not yet been identi- fied, but the neighbourhood has never been examined with proper care. It is clear, from the statements both of Diodorus and Strabo, that it occupied a site nea7' to, hut distinct from, that of Sybaris (Diod. xii. 10; Strab. I. c): hence the position suggested ~ by some local topographers at the foot of the hill of Terranova, is probably too far iidand. It is more likely that the true site is to be sought to the N. of the Coscile (the ancient Sybaris), a few miles from the sea, where, according to Zannoni's map, ruins still exist, attributed by that geographer to Sybaris, but which are probably in reality those of Thurii. Swin- burne, however, mentions Roman ruins as existing in the peninsula formed by the rivers Crathis and Sybaris near their junction, which may perhaps be those of Thurii. (Swinburne, Travels, vol. i. pp. 291, 292 ; Romanelli, vol. i. p. 236.) The whole subject is very obscure, and a careful exuniinution of the localities is still much needed. The coins of Tiiurii are of great beauty; their number and variety indeed gives us a higlior idea of the opulence and prosperity of the city than coix or Tiiuuii.