Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/597

 PESLA. It is still mentioned by Paulas Diacomis {Tlist. Lang. ii. 16) as one of the chief cities of Tuscia under the Lombards, and in the middle ages became an in- dependent republic. PeriigM still continues a con- siiienible city, with 15,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of one of the provinces of the Roman states. The modern city of Perugia retains considerable vestiges of its ancient grandeur. The most im- ]-)Ortant of these are the remains of the walls, which agree in character with those of Chiusi and Todi, being composed of long rectangular blocks of traver- tine, of very regular masonry, wholly different from the ruder and more massive walls of Cortona and Volterra It is a subject of much doubt whether these walls belong to the Etiniscan city, or are of later and Roman times. The ancient gates, two of wln'ch still exist, must in all probability be referred to the latter period. The most striking of these is that now known as the Arm dAvyiisto, from the inscription "Augusta Perusia" over the arch: this probably dates from the restoration of the city under Augustus, though some writers would assign it to a much more remote period. Another gate, known as the Porta Afarsia, also retains its ancient arch ; while several others, though more or less modernised, are certainly of ancient construction as high as the imposts. It is thus certain that the ancient city was not more extensive than the modern one; but, like that, it occupied only the summit of the hill, which is of very considerable elevation, and sends down its roots and underfalls on the one side towards the Tiber, on the other towards the lake of Thra- symene. Hence the lines of circumvallation drawn round the foot of the hill by Octavian enclosed a space of 56 stadia, or 7 Roman miles (Appian, E. C. V. 33). though the circuit of the city itself did not exceed 2 miles. The chief remains of the ancient Etruscan city are the sepulchres without the walls, many of which liave been explored, and one — the family tomb of the Volumnii — lias beesi preserved in precisely the same state as when first discovered. From the inscrip- tions, some of which are bilingual, we learn that the family name was written in Etruscan " Velimnas," which is rendered in Latin by Volumnius. Other sepulchres appear to have belonged to the families whose names assumed the Latin forms, Axia, Caesia, Petronia, Vettia, and Vibia. Another of these tombs is remarkable for the careful construction and regular nfiasonry of its arched vault, on which is engraved an Etruscan inscription of considerable length. But a far more important monument of that people is an inscription now preserved in the museum at Periigia. which extends to forty-six lines in length, and is the only considerable fragment of the language which has been preserved to us. [Etruria, p. 858.] Nu- merous sarcophagi, urns, vases, and other relics from the various tombs, are preserved in the same museum, as well as many inscriptions of the Roman period. (Vermiglioli, Iscrizioni Pervgine, 2 vols. 4to., Pe- rugia, 1834 ; Id. II Sepolcro dei Volunni, 4to., Perugia, 1841 ; Dennis's Etniria, vol. ii. pp. 458 — 489.) We learn from ancient authors that Juno was re- garded as the tutelary deity of Perusia till after the burning of the city in b. c. 40, when the temple of Vulcan being the only edifice that escaped the con- flagration, that deity was adopted by the surviving citizens as their peculiar patron. (Dion Cass, xlviii. 14; Appian. B. C. v. 49.) [K. H. B.] PEbLA or PESCLA (^'o^ Imp. c. 28, vol. i. PETALIAE. 581 p. 75, ed. Bocking), is probably the border-fortress in the N. of the Thebaid, which Ptolemy (iv. 5. § 71) calls VIaaffa.ciii> or UdaaaAos. Pesla stood on the right bank of the Nile, and was the quarters of a German company (turma) of cavalry (D'Anville, Mtm. sur r Egypte, p. 190). [W. B. D.] PESSINUS, PESINUS (nftro-iroCj, UiaivuZs; Eih. WiocivovvTios), the principal town of the To- listoboii, in the west of Galatia, situated on the southern slope of Mount Dindymus or Agdistis, near the left bank of the river Sangarius, from whose sources it was about 15 miles distant. (Pans. i. 4. § 5; Strab. xii. p. 567.) It was 16 miles south of Gei-ma, on the road from Ancyra to Amorium. {It. Ant. pp. 201, 202.) It was the greatest com- mercial town in those parts, and was believed to have derived its name from the image of its great patron divinity, which was said to have fallen (ireo-eTj/) from heaven. (Herodian, i. 11; Amm. Jlarc. xxii. 9.) Pessinus owes its greatest celebrity to the goddess Rhea or Cybele, whom the nativescalled Agdistis, and to whom an immensely rich temple was dedicated. Her priests were anciently the rulers of the place ; but in later times their honours and powers were greatly reduced. (Strab. /. c, x. p. 469; Diod. Sic. iii. 58, &c.) Her temple con- tained her image, which, according to some, was of stone (Liv. xxix. 10, II), or, according to others, of wood, and was believed to have fallen from heaven. (ApoUod. iii. 1 1 ; Amm. Marc. I. c.) The fame of the goddess appears to have extended all over the ancient world; and in b. c. 204, in accordance with a command of the Sibylline books, the Romans sent a special embassy to Pessinus to fetch her statue, it being believed that the safety of Rome depended on its removal to Italy. (Liv. /. c; Strab. xii. p. 567.) The statue was set up in the temple of Victory, on the Palatine. The goddess, however, continued nevertheless to be worshipped at Pessinus ; and the Galli, her priests, sent a deputation to Manlius when he was encamped on the banks of the Sangarius. (Liv. xxxviii. 18; Polyb. xx. 4.) At a still later period, the emperor Julian worshipped the goddess in her ancient temple. (Amm. ^Marc. I. c.) The kings of Pergamum adorned the sanctuary with a magnificent temple, and porticoes of white marble, and surrounded it with a beautiful grove. Under the Roman dominion the town of Pessinus began to decay, although in the new division of the empiie under Constantine it was made the capital of the province Galatia Salutaris. (Hierocl. p. 697.) After the sixth century the town is no longer men- tioned in history. Considerable ruins of Pessinus, especially a well-preserved theatre, exist at a dis- tance of 9 or 10 miles to the south-east of Sevri Ilissar, where they were first discovered by Texier. {Descript. de lAsie Mineure). They extend over three hills, separated by valleys or ravines. Tlic marble seats of the theatre are nearly entire, but the scena is entirely destroyed ; the whole district is covered with blocks of marble, shafts of columns, and other fragments, showing that the place must have been one of unusual magnificence. (Hamilton, Pcsearches, i. p. 438, foil.; Leake, Asia Minoi; p. 82, foil., who seems to be mistaken in lo(]kinfi for Pessinus on the right bank of the Sangarius. [L. S.] PETA'LIAE, incorrectly called Petalia (Ilf raAia) by Strabo (x. p. 444), small islands off the coast of Euboea, at the entrance of the Euripus, now Peta- lius. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 23; Lcakc, Northern Greece, Tol. ii. p. 423.) P p 3