Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1350

 1326 URBANA COLONIA. chdtel to the Lalse of Geneva, and on a hill nearly surrounded by the river Oi-be. [G. L.] URBANA COLONIA, mentioned by Pliny only (xiv. 6. s. 8), was a colony founded by Sulla in a part of the territory of Capua, adjoining the Faler- nus ager. From its name it would appear probable that it was a colony of citizens from Rome itself, who were settled by the dictator in this fertile district. It is doubtful whether there ever was a town of the name, as no allusion is found to it as such, and the district itself was reunited to that of Capua before the time of Pliny. (Pliu. I. c; Zumpt, de Col. p. 252.) [E. H. B.] URBATE, a place in Lower Pannonia, on the road from Siscia to Sirmium (/<. Ant. p. 268 ; Tab. Pent.) ; its exact site is unknown. [L. S.] URBIACA, a town of the Celtiberi, in Hispania Tarraconensis. (^Itln. Ant. p. 447.) Probably the TJrbicua of Livy (xl. 16). Variously identified with Albaroches, Checa, and Molina. [T. H. D.] URBIGENUS PAGUS. [Helvetii, Vol. L p. 1041.] URBINUJI (Ovpg'ivov), was the name of two cities or municipal towns of Umbria, situated within a short distance of each other, which were distin- guished by the epithets Hortense and Metaurense. (Plin. iii. 14. s. 19.) 1. Urbinum Hortense (CV6/no), apparently the more considerable of the two, and for that i-eason frequently called simply Urbinum, was situated on a hill between the valleys of the Sletaurus and the Pisaurus (Fofjlia), rather more than 20 miles from the Adriatic. It is mentioned by Pliny among the municipal towns of Umbria, and is incidentally no- ticed by Tacitus as the place where Fabius Valens, the general of Vitellius, was put to death, in a.d. 69, after he had fallen into the hands of the generals of Vespasian. (Tac. Hi^t. iii. 62.) Its municipal rank is confirmed by numerous inscriptions, which prove it to have been a town of some importance. (Orell. Inscr. 3714; Gruter, Inscr. p. 387. 8, p. 392. 1, &c.) Procopius also notices it during the Gothic "Wars, and correctly describes it as situated on a steep and lofty hill; it was at that time a strong fortress, but was besieged and taken by Belisarius in A.D. 538. (Procop. B. G. ii. 19.) From this time it seems to have continued to be a place of consider- ation, and in the middle ages became the seat of go- vernment of a race of independent dukes. It is still a considerable city, and one of the capitals of the delegation of Urbino and Pesaro, but has no remains of antiquity, except the inscriptions above noticed. 2. Urbinum Metaurense (^Urbania), was si- tuated, as its name imports, in the valley of the Metaurus. on the right bank of the river, about 6 miles below S. Angela in Vado (Tifernuni Metau- rense), and 9 from Urbino. Its municipal rank is attested by an inscription, in which the inhabitants are termed Urvinates Mataurenses, as well as by Pliny (Gruter, Inscr. p. 463. 4; Phn. iii. 14. s. 19); but it seems never to have been a place of much import- ance. In the middle ages it fell into complete decay, and was replaced by a village called Castel Durante, •which, in 1625, was enlarged and raised to the dig- nity of a city by Urban VIII., from whom it derives its present name of Urhania. (Cluver. Ital. p. 620; Eampoldi, Biz. Top. vol. iii. p. 1278.) [E. H. B.] URBS SALVIA {OvpSa -^ixXovia, Ptol. iii. 1. § 52 : Eth. Urbis Salviensis or Urbisalviensis : Urhisag- lia), a town of Picenum, mentioned by Pliny among the municipal towns of that district. (Plin. iii. 13. UEGAO. ' s. 18.) It was situated on a hill above the valley of the Flusor (Chientl), about 2 miles from the right bank of that river, and 7 miles E. of Tolenti- num. The testimony of Pliny to its municipal rank is confirmed by the Liber Coloniarum, which men- tions the " ager Urbis Salviensis," as well as by an inscription {Lib. Col. p. 226 ; Orell. Inscr. 1870); and it seems to have been a flourishing town until it was taken and destroyed by Alaric, a calamity from which it never recovered, so that it still lay in ruins in the time of Procopius. (Procop. B. G. ii. 16.) Dante also notices it in the 13th century as in com- plete ruins (^Par. svi. 73); but the name has always survived, and is still attached to the modern Urbi- saglia, which is, however, a mere village, dependent on Macerata. The Itineraries give two lines of crossroads which passed through Urbs Salvia, the one from Septempeda (5. Severitw) to Firnium (^Fermo), the other from Auximum through Ricina and Urbs Salvia to Asculum. (/</». Ant. p. 316; Tab. Pent.) [E. H. B.] URBS VETUS (Orvieto), a city of Etruria men- tioned by Paulus Diaconus (^Hist. Lang. iv. 33) to- gether with Balneum Regis (Bugnarea) in the same neighbourhood. No mention of either name occurs in any writer before the fall of the Roman Empire, but it is probable that the Urbiventum {OvpgiSefTov^ of Procopius, which figures in the Gothic Wars as a fortress of some importance, is the same place as the Urbs Vetus of P. Diaconus. (Procop.5. G. ii. 20.) There is no doubt that the modern name of Orvieto is derived from Urbs Vetus; but the latter is evidently an appellation given in late times, and it is doubtful what was the original name of the city thus desig- n.ated. Niebuhr supposes it to be Salpinum, noticed by Livy in b. c. 389 (Liv. v. 31 ; Niebuhr, vol. ii. p. 493) [Salpinuji], while Italian antiquaries in general identify it with Herbanum. [Hekbanum.] But both suggestions are mere conjectures. [E. H. B.] URCESA {OvpKiaa or OUpKaia-a. Ptol. ii. 6 § 58), a town of the Celtiberi in Hispania Tarraco- nensis. According to some, the modern Requena, whilst others identify it with Velesox Orgas. (Coins in Sestini p. 212.) [T. H. D.] URCI (Phn. iii. 3.S.4; OJ?/jk7j, Ptoh ii. 6. § 14), a town of the Bastetani in Hispania Tarraconensis, on the borders of Baetica, or according to another boundary line, which makes the latter reach as far as Barca, in Baetica itself, on a bay named after it, and on the road from Castulo to Malaca. (Mela, ii. 6, where the editions incorrectly have Uriii and Virgi ; Itin. Ant. p. 404.) Variously identified with Ahrucena, Puerto de Aguilas, and Alsoduz. Ukert, however (ii. pt. i. p. 352), would seek it in the neighbourhood of Alme- ria. TT. H. D.] URCITANUS SINUS, a small bay eiUier on the S. coast of Hispania Tarraconensis or in Baetica, named after the town of Urci. It was separated by the Promontorium Charidemi from the Sinus Massienus on the E. (Mela, ii. 6.) Now the bay of AU meria. [T. H. D ] URGAO, a town in Hispania Baetica, on the road from Corduba to Castulo (^Itin. Ant. p. 403), with the surname of Alba. (Plin. iii. 1. s. 3.) In the editions of the Itinerary it is called Urcao and Vircao; and according to inscriptions in Gruter (ccxlix. 3, ccxliii. 6), it was a municipium, with the name of Albense UrgavOnense. Most pro- bably Arjona. (Cf Jlorales, Ant. p. 74; Florez, Esp. Sagr. xii. p. 379.) [T. H. D.]