Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/295

 MARRUCINI. (Liv. viii. 29; Kie'oulir, vol. i. p. 101); and hence we find the llarrucini generally following the lead and sharing the fortunes of the Marsi and Peligni. But in B. c. 311 they appear to have taken part with the Samnites, though the other confederates remained neuter ; as in that year, according to Diodorus, they were engaged in open hostilities with Eome. (Diod. xix. 105.) No mention of this is found in Livy, nor is their name noticed in b. c. 308, when the JIarsi and Peligni appear in hostility to Rome; but a few years after, b. c. 304, all three nations, together with the Frentani, united in send- ing ambassadors to sue for peace, and obtained a treaty of aUiance on favourable terms. (Liv. ix. 41, 45; Diod. XX. 101.) From this time the Marru- cini became the firm and faithful allies of Rome; and are repeatedly mentioned among the auxiliaries serving in the Roman armies. (Dionys. xx. Fr. Didot; Pol. ii. 24; Lix.xliv. 40; Sil. Ital. viii. 519.) During the Second Punic War their fidelity was unshaken, though their territory was repeatedly tra- versed and ravaged by Hannibal (Liv. xxii. 9, xxvi. 11 ; Pol. iii. 88); and we find them, besides fm'nish- ing their usual contingent to the Roman armies, providing supplies for Claudius Nero on his march to the Metaurus, and raising a force of volunteers to assist Scipio in his expedition to Africa. (Liv. sxvii. 43, xxviii. 45.) In the Social War, however, they followed the example of the JIarsi and Peligni, and, though their name is less often mentioned than that of their more powerful neighbours, they appear to have borne an important part in that momentous contest. (Appian, B. C. i. 39,46; Liv. Epit. Ixxii.; Oros. V. 18.) Thus Herius Asinius, who is called by Livy " praetor Marrucinorum," and was slain in one of the battles between Marius and the Jlarsi, is particularly noticed as one of the chief leaders of the Italian allies. (Liv. Epit. Ixxiii.; Veil. Pat. ii. 16; Appian, B. C. i. 40.) But before the close of the year 89 b. c. they were defeated, and their territory ravaged by Sulpicius, the lieutenant of Pompeius, and soon after reduced to submission by Pompeius himself. (Liv. Epit. Ixxvi.; Oros. v. 18; Appian, B. C. i. 52.) The Marrucini were at this time admitted to the Roman franchise, and became quickly merged in the ordinary condition of the Italian subjects of Rome. Hence their name is from henceforth rarely found in history; though it is incidentally noticed by Cicero, as well as by Caesar, who traversed their territory on his march from Corfinium into Apulia. (Cic. pro Cluent. 19 ; Caes. B. C. i. 23, ii. 34.) In b. c. 43, also, they were among the most prominent to declare themselves against Antonius. (Cic. P/iil. vii. 8.) From these notices it is evident that they still retained their municipal existence as a separate people; and we learn from the geographers that this continued to be the case under the Roman Empire also ; but the name gradually sank into disuse. Their territory was comprised, as well as that of the Vestini, in the Fourth Region of Augustus; in the subsequent distribution of the provinces, it is not quite clear to which it was assigned, the Liber Coloniarum including Teate among the " Civitates Piceni," while P. Diaconus refers it, tcgether with the Frentani, to the province of Samnium. (Strab. v. p. 241; Plin. iii. 12. s. 17; Ptol. iii. 1. § 60; Lib. Col. p. 258;P. Diac. ii. 20.) The territory of the IIarrucini (ager Marrucinus, Plin. ; 7j MappovKlvT], Strab.), though of small extent, was fertile, and, from its situation on the E. of the MARRUVIUM. 279 Apennines, sloping towards the sea, enjoyed a much milder climate than that of the neighbouring Peligni. Hence it produced oil, wine, and corn in abundance and appears to have been noted for the excellence of its fruit and vegetables, (Plin. xv. 19. s. 21- Columell. X. 131.) It would appear to have been subject to earthquakes (Plin. ii. 83. s. 85, xvii. 25. s. 38) ; and hence, probably, arose the apprehension expressed by Statius, lest the mountains of the Mar- rucini should be visited by a catastrophe similar to that which had recently occurred in Campania. (Stat. Silv. iv. 4. 86.) The only city of importance belonging to the Marrucini was Teate, now Chieti, which is called by several writers their metropohs, or capital city. At a later period its municipal district appears to have comprised the whole territory of the Marrucini. Ls'TERPKOMiUJi, known only from the Itineraries, and situated on the Via Valeria, 12 miles from Corfinium, at the Osteria di S. Valentino, was never more than a village or vicus in the teiTitory of Teate. Pollitium, mentioned by Diodorus (xix. 105) as a city of the Marrucini, which was besieged by the Romans in B.C. 311, is wholly unknown. Ater- NUM, at the mouth of tlie river of the same name, served as the port of the JIarrucini, but belonged to the Vestini. (Strab. v. p. 241.) [E. H. B.] MARRU'VIUM or MARRU'BIUM {Mapoviov, Strab. : Eth. Marruvius : S. Benedetto), the chief city of the Marsi, situated on the eastern shore of the lake Fucinus, and distant 13 miles from Alba Fucensis. Ancient writers agree in representing it as the capital of the Marsi : indeed, this is suffi- ciently attested by its name alone ; MaiTuvii or Marrubii being evidently only another foi-m of the name of the Marsi, and being thus used by Virgil as an ethnic appellation {Marriivia de gente, Aen. vii. 750). In accordance with this, also, Silius Italicus represents MaiTuvium as deriving its name from a certain Marrus, who is evidently only an eponymous hero of the Marsi. (Sil. Ital. viii. 505.) We have no account of Marruvium, however, previous to the Roman conquest of the ilarsic territory ; but under the Roman Empire it was a flourishing municipal town ; it is noticed as such both by Strabo and Pliny, and in inscriptions we find it called '' splendidissima civitas Marsorum ]Iarruvium." (Strab. v. p. 241 ; Plin. iii. 12. s. 17 ; Mommsen, Inscr. R.N. 5491, 5499; Orell. Inscr. 3149.) It seems, indeed, to have been not unfrequently called " Civitas Marsorum," and in the middle ages " Civitas Marsicana : " hence, even in the Liber Coloniarum, we find it called " Marsus mimicipiuni." {Lib. Colon, pp. 229, 256.) It is noticed in tbe Tabula, which places it 13 M. P. from Alba; but it was not situated on the Via Valeria, and must have communicated with that high-road by a brancli from Cerfennia. (^Tab. Pent.) Marruvium con- tinued through the middle ages to be the see of tiie bishop of the Marsi ; and it was not till l-OSO that the see was removed to the neighbouring town of Pescina. The site is now known by the name of S. Benedetto, from a convent erected on the spot. Considerable ruins of the ancient city still remain, including portions of its walls ; tbe remains of an amphitheatre, &c., and numerous inscriptions, as well as statues, have been discovered on tbe site. These ruins arc situated close to the margin of the lake, about two miles below Pescina. (llolsten. ad Cbtver. p. 151 ; Romanelli, vol. iii. p. ISO — 186; Kramer, Fuciner See, p. 55 ; Hoarc's Chi.^s. Tow, T 4