Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/170

 154 LEGIO VII. GEIIINA. Eoman city of Asturia, in Hispania Tarraconensis, admirably situated at the confluence of two tribu- taries of the Esla, at the foot of the Asturian moun- tains, commanding and protecting the plain of Leon. As its name implies, it grew out of the station of the new 7th legion, which was raised by the emperor Galba in Hispania. (Dion Cass. iv. 24 ; Tac. Hist. ii. 11, iii. 25 ; Suet. Galha, 10.) Tacitus calls the legion Galbiana, to distinguish it from the old Legio VII. Claudia, but this appellation is not found on any genuine inscriptions. It appears to have received the appellation of Gemina (respecting the use of which, and Gemella, see Caesiir B. C. iii. 3) on account of its amalgamation by Vespasian with one of the German legions, not improbably the Legio I. Germanica. Its full name was VII. Gemina Felix. After serving in Pannonia, and in the civil wars, it was settled by Vespasian in Hispania Tarraconensis, to supply the place of the VI. Vietrix and X. Gemina, two of the three legions ordinarily stationed in the province, but which had been withdrawn to Germany. (Ta,c. Hist. ii. 11, 67, 86, iii. 7, 10, 21 — 25, iv. 39 ; Inscr. ap. Gruter, p. 245, no. 2.) That its regular winter quarters, under later emperors, were at Leon, we learn from the Itinerary, Ptolemy, and the Notitia Imperii, as well as from a few inscriptions (Muratori, p. 2037, no. 8, A. D. 130; p. 335, nos. 2, 3, A. d. 163; p. 336, no. 3, A. d. 167; Gruter, p. 260, no. 1, A. D. 216) ; but there are numerous inscriptions to prove that a strong detachment of it was stationed at Tarraco, the chief city of the province. (The following are a selection, in order of time : — Orelli, no. 3496, A. D. 182; no. 4815 ; Grater, p. 365, no. 7.) In the inscriptions the legion has the sur- names of P. F. AXTONINIANA, P. F. AlEXAX- DRiANA, and P. F. Severiana Alexandriana ; and its name occurs in a Greek inscription as AET. Z. AlAvfj.7] ( C. I. vol. iii. no. 4022), while another mentions a x'Ai'apxot' iv 'lairavia Aijewpus iSdofxrjs. (C. /. vol. i. no. 1126.) There is an inscription in which is found a " Tribunus Militum Leg. VII. Ge- minae Felicis in Germania," from a comparison of which with two inscriptions found in Germany (Lehne, Schriften, vol. i. nos. 11, 62; Borghesi, sidle iscr. Rom. del Reno, p. 26), it has been in- ferred that the legion was employed on an expe- dition into Germany under Alexander Severus, and that this circumstance gave rise to the erroneous designation of VepixaviKrj in the text of Ptolemy. (Booking, N. D. pt. ii. pp. 1026, seq. ; Marquardt's Becker, Rom. Alterthum. vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 354 ; Grotefend, in Pauly's RealencyMopddie, s. v. Legio.) The station of this legion in Asturia grew into an important city, which resisted the attacks of the Goths tUl A. D. 586, when it was taken by Leovi- gildo ; and it was one of the few cities which the Goths allowed to retain their fortifications. During the struggle with the Arab invaders, the same for- ti-ess, which the Eomans had built to protect the plain from the incursions of the mountaineers, be- came the advanced post which covered the mountain, as the last refuge of Spanish independence. After yielding to the first assault of the floors, it was soon recovered, and was restored by Ordoiio I. in 850. It was again taken by Al-Mansur in 996, after a year's siege ; but was recovered after Al- Mansur's defeat at Calatanazor, about a.d. 1000 ; repeopled by Alonso V., and enlarged by Alonso XL, under whose successor, Don Pedro, it ceased to be LELEGES. the capital of the kingdom of Leon, by the removal of the court to Seville. The greater portion of the Roman walls may still be traced. (Ford, Handbook of Spain, p. 318.) [P. S.] LEHI, or more fully Ramathlehi, a place in the south of Palestine, the name of which is derived from one of Samson's exploits. (Judg. xv. 9, 14, 17; comp. Joseph. Ant. v. 8. § 8 ; Winer, Bihlisch. Real- worterbnch, s. v.) LEIMO'NE {Aeifi(livy), the later name of the Homeric Elone (^HXwvri), according to Strabo, was a town of Perrhaebia in Thessaly, and was situated at the foot of Mount Olympus, not far from the Titaresius or Eurotas. The Greeks of Elassma report that there are some remains of this city at Selos. (Horn. II. ii. 739; Strab. ix. p. 440; Steph. B. 5. V. 'HAcivTj; Leake, Northei-n Greece, vol. iii. p. 345.) LEINUM (^hit'ivov), a town of Sarmatia Europaea, which Ptolemy (iii. 5. § 29) places on an afiluent of the Borysthenes, but whether on the Beresina, or some other, is uncertain. Lianum {Adavov, Ptol. iii. 5. § 12), on the Palus Maeotis, appears to be the same place repeated by an oversight. (Schafarik, Slav.Alt. vol. I j>. 512.) [E. B. J.] LEIPSYDRIUM. [Attica, p. 326, b.] LELAMNO'NIUS SINUS, in Britain, mentioned by Ptolemy (ii. 3) as lying between the aestuary of the Clota (^Clyde) and the Epidian Promontory {Mull of Canti/re) ; = Loch Fyne. [E. G. L.] LELANTUS CAMPUS {jh AvXavrov ireSiW), a fertile plain in Euboea, between Chalcis and Eretria, which was an object of frequent contention between those cities. [Chalcis.] It was the subject of volcanic action. Strabo relates that on one occasion a torrent of hot mud issued from it ; and it contained some warm springs, which were used by the dictator Sulla. The plain was also celebrated for its vineyards ; and in it there were mines of copper and iron. (Strab. i. p. 58, x. p. 447, seq. ; Hom. Hymn, in Apoll. 219 ; Theogn. 888; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 265.) Phny mentions a river Lelantus in Euboea, which must have flowed through this plain, if it really existed. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 21.) LE'LEGES (Ae'Ae^es), an ancient race which was spread over Greece, the adjoining islands, and the Asiatic coast, before the Hellenes. They were so widely difi"used that we must either suppose that their name was descriptive, and applied to several different tribes, or that it was the name of a single tribe and was afterwards extended to others. Strabo (vii. p. 322) regarded them as a mixed race, and was disposed to believe that their name had reference to this (to (TvXXeKTovs yfyoyevai). They may pro- bably be looked upon, like the Pelasgians and the other early inhabitants of Greece, as members of the great Indo-Europoan race, who became gra- dually incorporated with the Hellenes, and thus ceased to exist as an independent people. The most distinct statement of ancient writers on the origin of the Leleges is that of Herodotus, who says that the name of Lileges was the ancient name of the Carians (Herod, i. 171). A later Greek writer considered the Leleges as standing in the same relation to the Carians as the Helots to the Lacedaemonians and the Penestae to the Thessalians. (Athen. vi. p. 271.) In Homer both Leleges and Carians appear as equals, and as auxiliaries of the Trojans. {11. x. 428.) The Leleges are ruled by Altes, the father-in-law of Priam, and inhabit a