Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/463

 NOEICUM. capital of the Taurisci in Noricum, which province seems to have derived its name from it. The town was situated a little to the south of the river Murius, on the road from Virunum to Ovilaba, and formed tlte central point of the traffic in gold and iron in Noricum ; for in its neighbourhood a considerable quantity of gold and iron v/sls obtained. (Strab. v. p. 214; Tab. Pent.) The place is celebrated in history on account of the defeat there sustained, in B. c. 113, by Cn. Carbo against the Cimbri, and on account of its siege by the Boii about B. c. 59. (Strab. I. c; Liv. .Epit. lib. Ixiii.; Caes. B. G. i. 5.) Pliny (iii. 23) mentions Noreia among the towns which had perished in his time; but this must be a mistake, for Noreia is still mentioned in the Peutin- gerian Table, or else Pliny confounds this place with another of the same name. The site of the ancient Noreia is now occupied by the town of Neumark in Styria. (Muchar, Noricum, i. p. 271.) [L. S.] NO'RICUM (Noricus ager, tioipiKuv), a country on the south of the Danube, bordering in the west on Rhaetia and Vindelicia, from which it was sepa- rated by the river Aenus ; in the north the Danube separated it from Germania Magna ; in the east it bordered on Pannonia, the Mons Cestius forming the boundary, and in the south on Pannonia and Italy, from which it was divided by the river Savus, the Alpes Carnicae, and mount Ocra. It accordingly comprised the modern Upper and Lower Austria, between the Inn and the Danube, the greater part of Styria, Carinthiu, and portions of Carniola, Bavaria, Tyrol, and the territory of Salzburg. (Ptol. ii. 13.) The name Noricum, is traced by some to Norix, a son of Hercules, but was in all probability derived from Noreia, the capital of the country. Nearly the •whole of Noricum is a mountainous country, being surrounded in most parts by mountains, sending their ramifications into Noricum ; while an Alpine range, called the Alpes Noricae, traverse the whole of the country in the direction from west to east. With the exception of the north and south, Noricum lias scarcely any plains, but numerous valleys and rivers, the latter of which are all tributaries of the Danube. The climate was on the whole rough and cold, and the fertility of the soil was not very great; but in the plains, at a distance from the Alps, the character of the country was different and its fertility greater. (Isid. Oi'iff. xiv. 4.) It is probable that the Eomans, by draining marshes and routing out forests, did much to increase the productiveness of the country. (Comp. Claudian, Bell. Get. 365.) But the great wealth of Noricum consisted in its metals, as gold and iron. (Strab. iv. pp. 208, 214; Ov. Met. xiv. 711, &c.; Plin. xxxiv. 41: Sidon. Apoll. v. 51.) -The Alpes Noricae still contain numerous traces of the mining activity displayed by the Romans in those parts. Norican iron and steel were celebrated in ancient times as they still are. (Glem. Alex. Sti-om. i. p. 307; Herat. Ca7'm. i. 16. 9, Epod. xvii. 71; Martial, iv. 55. 12; Rutil. Itin. i. 351, &c.) The produce of the Norican iron mines seems to have been sufficient to supply the material for the manufactories of arms in Pannonia, Moesia, and Northern Italy, which owed their origin to the vicinity of the mines of Noricum. There are also indications to show that the Romans were not un- acquainted with the salt in which the country abounds ; and the plant called Saliunca, which grows abundantly in the Alpes Noricae, was well known to the Romans, and used by them as a perfume. (Plin. xxi. 20.) NORICUM. 447 The inhabitants of Noricum, called by the general name Norici (NaipiKoi, Plin. iii. 23; Polyb. x^ixiv. 10; Strab. iv. pp. 206, 208), were a Celtic race (Strab. vii. pp. 293, 296), whose ancient name was Taurisci (Plin. iii. 24.) The Celtic character of the people is sufficiently attested also by the names of several Norican tribes and towns. About the year b. c. 58, the Boii, a kindred race, emigrated from Boiohemum and settled in the northern part of Noricum (Caes. B. G.i. 5). Strabo (v. p. 213) describes these Boii as having come from the north of Italy. They had resisted the Cimbri and Ten- tones, but were afterwards completely anniliilated by the Getae, and their country became a de.sert. Ptolemy does not mention either the Norici or the Boii, but enumerates several smaller tribes, such as the Sevaces (SsouaK-es) in the west, the Alauni or Halanni {'Ahavvoi) in the south, and the Anibisontii ('AiUgiirdvTioi), the inhabitants of the banks of the Isonta. In the east the same authority mentions the Norici (Noi^iicoi) together with two other small tribes, the Ambidravi (^AixSiSpuuoi, i. e. dwellers about the Dra^Tis) and the Ambilici (jA/xSiMKoi, or dwellers about the Licus or Lichias, or Lech). It must be observed that, in this enumeration of Ptolemy, the Norici, instead of forming the great body of the population, were only one of the six smaller tribes. As to the history of Noricum and its inhabitants, we know that at first, and for a long time, they were governed by kings (Caes. B. C. i. 18; Strab. vii. pp. 304, 313); and some writers speak of a regnum Noricum e'en after the country had been incorporated with the Roman Empire. (Veil. Pat. ii. 39, 109 ; Suet. Tib. 1 6.) From early times, the Noricans had carried on considerable commerce with Aquileia (Strab. iv. p. 207, vii. p. 314); but when the Romans, under the command of Tiberius and Drusus, made themselves masters of the adjoining coun- tries south of the Danube, especially after the conquest of Rhaetia, Noricum also was subdued ; and about b. o. 13, the country, after desperate struggles of its inh.abitants with the Romans, was conquered by Tiberius, Drusus, and P. Silius, in the course of one summer. (Strab. iv. p. 206 ; Dion Cass. liv. 20.) The country was then changed into a Roman province, probably an im- perial one, and was accordingly governed by a procurator. (Tac. Hist. i. 11, Ann. ii. 63.) Partly to keep Noricum in subjection, and partly to pro- tect it against foreign invasions, a strong body of troops (the legio ii. Italica) was stationed at Lau- reacum, and three fleets were kept on the Danube, viz. the classis Comaginensis, the cl. Arlapensis, and the cl. Laureacensis. Roads were made through the country, several Roman colonies were founded, as at Laureacum and Ovilaba, and fortresses were built. In the time of Ptolemy, the province ot Noricum was not yet divided; but in the subsequent division of the whole empire into smaller provinces Noricum was cut into two parts, Noricum Ripense (the northern part, along the Danube),and Noricum Medi- terraneum (embracing the southern and more moun- tainous part), each of which was governed by a praeses, the whole forming part of the diocese of Illyricum. (Not. Imp. Occid. p. 5, and Orient, p. 5.) The more important rivers of Noricum, the Savus, Dravus, Mukus, Ahlatk, Iser, Jovavus or Isonta, are described under their respective heads. The ancient capital of the country was Norkia; but, besides this^ the country under the Roman