Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/642

 626 PIIYSCUS. PHYSCUS (■^va-Kos: Eth. ^vaiai^), a to^vn of Caria, in the territory of the Rhodians, situated on the coast, with a harbour and a grove sacred to Leto. (Strab. xiv. p. 652 ; Stadkism. Mar. Mag. § 245 ; Ptol. V. 2. § 11, where it is called ^owKa.) It is im- possible to suppose that this Physcus was the port- town of JNIylasa (Strab. xiv. p. 659); we must rather assume that Passala, the port of Mylasa, also bore the name of Physcus. Our Physcus was the ordi- nary landing-place for vessels sailing from Rhodes to Asia Minor. (Strab. xiv. p. 663; comp. Steph. B. s. «'.) This harbour, now called Marmorice, and a part of it Phi/sco, is one of the finest in the world, and in 1801 Lord Nelson's fleet anchored here, be- fore the battle ef the Nile. [L. S.] PHYSCUS, a tributary of the Tigris. [Tigris.] PHYTEUM (^vTfov, Pol. v. 7 ; ^vTaiof, Steph. B. s. V. : Guvala), a town of Aetolia, probably on the northern shore of the lake Trichonis. (Leake, Northe7-ii Greece, vol. i. p. 155.) PHY'TIA or PHOETEIAE (ivria, Thuc. ili. 106 ; ^oneMi, Pol. iv. 63 ; *oiT/ai, Steph. B. s. v.: Eth. 4>otTieus, 4>oiTios, ^oiridv, -avos : Po7-ta), a town in the interior of Acarnania, situated on a height W. of Stratus, and strongly fortified. It lay on the road from Stratus to Jledeon and Limnaea. After the time of Alexander the Great it fell into the hands of the Aetolians, together with the other towns in the W. of Acarnania. It was taken by Philip in his expedition against Aetolia in b. c. 219 ; but the Aetolians, doubtless, obtained possession of it again, either before or after the conquest of Philip by the Romans. It is mentioned as one of the towns of Acarnania in a Greek inscription found at Funta, the site of Actium, the date of which is probably prior to the time of Augustus. In this inscription the ethnic form 'tomdv occurs, which is analogous to 'AKapi'dv, Alvidv, 'Ati^'toc, 'A6afxdv, 'A^dv. (Thuc, Pol., II. cc. ; Bbckh, Corpus Inscript., No. 1793; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 574, seq.) PI'ALA (rii'aXa), a town in the interior of Pon- tus Galaticus, mentioned only by Ptolemy (v. 6. § 9). [L- S-] PI ALA (n'laKa or HiaSSa, Ptol. vi. 16. § 6), a town of Serica, from which the people Pialae (riiaAoi or niaSSai), dwelling as far as the river Oechardus, derived their name. (Ptol. vi. 16. § 4.) In some MSS. of Pliny (vi. 17. s. 19) the Pialae are mentioned as a people iu Scy thia intra Imaum ; but Sillig reads Psaeae. PIALAE. [PiALA.] PIA'LIA (riiaXia), a town of Histiaeotis in Thessaly, at the foot of Mt. Cercetium, probably represented by the Hellenic remains either at Skla- tina or Ardhdm. (Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 529.) PIARE'NSII {Uiapi]V(not, Ptol. iii. 10. § 9), a people of Moesia Inferior, adjoining its southern or Thracian boundary. [T. H. D.] PICARIA. [Dalmatia] PICE'NSII {hiKwmoi, Ptol. iii. 9. § 2), a people seated in the NE. part of Moesia Superior, on the river Tim.arus. [T.H. D.] PICENTES. [PiCENUM.] PICE'NTIA. [PiCENTINI.J PICENTI'NKniKevTri/oi, Ptol. ; niKerres, Strab.), a tribe or people of Central Italy, settled in the southern part of Campania, adjoining the frontiers of Lucania. Their name obviously indicates a close connection with the inhabitants of Picenum on the PICENUM. opposite side of the Italian peninsula ; and this is explained by Strabo, who tells us that they were in fact a portion of that people who had been trans- ported by the Romans from their original abodes to the shores of the Tyrrhenian sea. (Strab. v. p. 251.) The period of this transfer is not mentioned, but it in all probability took place on or shortly after the conquest of Picenum by the Romans, b. c. 268. During the Second Punic War, the Picentini espoused the cause of Hannibal, for which conduct they were severely punished after the close of the war, being, like the Lucanians and Bruttians, prohibited from military service, and employed for the inferior duties of public messengers and couriers. They were at the same time compelled to abandon their chief town, which bore the name of Picentia, and to disperse themselves in the villages and hamlets of the sur- rounding country. (Strab. I. c.) The more effec- tually to hold them in check, the Romans in B.C. 194 founded in their territory the colony of Salernum, which quickly rose to be a flourishing town, and the chief place of the surrounding district (Strab. I. c. ; Liv. xxxiv, 45 j Veil. Pat. i. 15). Picentia, however, did not cease to exist : Floras indeed appears to date its destruction only from the period of the Social War (Flor. iii. 18); but even long after this it is mentioned as a town both by Mela and Pliny, and its name is still found in the Tabula as late as the 4th centuiy. (Mel. ii. 4. § 9; Plin. iii. 5. s. 9; Tab. Pent.) The name of Vicenza is still borne by a hamlet on the road from Salerno to Ebnli, and the stream on which it is situated is still called the Vi- centino; but it is probable that the ancient city was situated rather more inland. (Romanelli, vol. iii. p. 610; Zannoni, Carta del Regiw di Na2}oli.) The boundaries of the Picentini are clearly marked both by Strabo and Pliny. They occupied the southern slope of the ridge of mountains which sepa- rates the gulf of Posidonia from that of Naples, ex- tending from the promontory of Minerva to the mouth of the Silarus. Ptolemy alone extends their confines across the range in question as far as the mouth of the Sarnus, and includes Surrentum among their towns. (Ptol. iii. 1 . § 7.) But there is little doubt that this is inaccurate. The name of Picentini is generally confined by geographers to the petty people in question, that of Picentes being given to the people of Picenum on the Adriatic. But it is doubtful how far this distinction was observed in ancient times. Picentinus is used as an adjective form for " belonging to Picenum " both by Pompey («/?. Cic. ad Att. viii. 12, c.) and Tacitus (^nist. iv. 63) ; while Strabo uses UiKfVTwoi for the people of Picenum, and Ili/ce^/Tes for those in Campania. The latter are indeed so seldom men- tioned that we can hardly determine what was the general usage in regard to them. [E. H. B.] PICENTI'NUM, a place in Pannonia, on the left bank of the Savus, on the road from Siscia to Sir- mium. (/<. Ant. p. 260.) It is possible that some ancient remains now called Kula may mark the site of the ancient Picentinum. [L. S.] PICE'NUM {rj niKfvrlvv, Pol., Strab.: Eth. niK-ecTii/oi, Strab.; TliK-nvoi, Ptol.; Picentes, Cic., Varr., Plin., &c., but sometimes also Picentini and Piceni), a province or region of Central Italy, ex- tending along the coast of the Adriatic from the mouth of the Aesis to that of the Matrinus, and in- land as far as the central ridge of the Apennines. It was thus bounded on the W. by the Umbrians and Sabines, on the S. by the Vestini, and on the N. by