Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/676

 coo POPULONIUM. frequented, and a town had grown up around it at the foot of the hill. (Strab. v. p. 233.) Its name is still mentioned as an existing town by all the other geographers, and Ptolemy especially notices the city as well as promontory of Populonium (Mel. ii. 4. § 9 ; Plin. iii. 5. s. 8; Ptol. iii. 1. § 4); but this is the last evidence of its existence; and before the close of the Western Empire it had fallen into complete decay. It is described by Rutilius at tlie beginning of the fifth century as entirely desolate, nothing remaining but fragments of its massive walls and the fallen ruins of other edifices. Gregory the Great also describes it towards the close of the sixth century as in a state of complete decay, though retaining an episcopal see ; but at a later period of the middle ages a feudal castle was erected on the site, which, with the few adjacent houses, still bears the name of Populonia, and is a conspicuous object from a distance. (Rutil. Ilia. i. 401 — 414; Gregor. £p. ap. Cliiver. Ital. p. 514.) The only Etruscan remains now existing at Populonium (with the exception of a few tombs of no interest) are those of the ancient walls, which may be traced in fragments all round the brow of the hill, throughout the entire circuit of the city. This did not -exceed a mile and a half in circum- ference ; it was of an iiTCgular form, adapted to the requirements of the ground. The walls are con- structed of rude masses of stone, arranged, like those of Volterra, in horizontal layers, but with littk regularity; they are not, however, nearly so gigantic in character as those of Volterra, Fiesole, or Cor- tona. Within the circuit of the walls are to be seen some vaulted chambers, six in a row (which have been erroneously called an amphitheatre) a mosaic pavement, and some reservoirs of water, all unques- tionably of Roman date. (Dennis's Etruria, vol. ii. p. 236—238.) On the highest point of the hill, in the days of Rutilius, stood a lonely watch-tower, serving at the same time as a beacon for ships. (Rutil. Itin. i. 407.) It was from this point that, according to Strabo, the view comprised not only Corsica (which is visible from many points of the mainland), but Sardinia also. (Strab. I. c.) But this last as- sertion, though it has been repeated by many writers, is certainly erroneous, as, even if the dis- tance were not too great, the nearer mountains of Elba would effectually congeal those of Sardinia from the view. (Dennis, vol. ii. p. 239.) We learn from the Tabula that there were hot springs in the territory of Populonium, which had given rise to a bathing-place called the Aquae PoPULONiAE {Tab. Peut). These were evidently the same now known as Le Caldane, at the foot of Campiijlia, about 6 miles from Populonium, which have been identified by some writers with the " aquae calidae ad Vetulonios" mentioned by Pliny (ii. 10. s. 106); but there is no authority for placing Vetu- lonia in this neighbourhood. (Dennis, voL ii. p. 225.) [Vetulonia.] Populonium was the only city of Etruria which had a silver coinage of its own, of a veiy peculiar style, the reverse being generally quite plain, with- out type or legend, and not incuse or indented, as on the earliest Greek coins. The ordinary type is a Gorgon's head or mask, similar to that on many Etruscan monuments. The copper coins give the Etruscan name of the city " Pupluna " at full — nTIlATNA. It is not improbable (as suggested by Millingen) that the Populonians derived the art of PORPHYRIS. coinage from the Phocaeans of Corsica ; but there is certainly no ground for admitting the existence of a Phocaean colony at Populonium itself. (Millingen, Nuviiim. de lAnc. Italic, p. 163; Eckhel, Num. Vet. Anecd. pp. 10—18.) [E. H. B.] COIN OF POPULONIUM. PORCIFERA (Polcevera), a river of Liguria, flowing into the sea about 2 miles W. of Genua. The name is written Porcifera by Pliny (iii. 5. s. 7), the only one of the geographers who mentions it; but in a curious inscription found near Genoa, it is variously written porcobera and procobera. [Genua.] [E. H. B.] PORDOSELE'NE (Uop^offeXrivr] : Efh. Uop^o- (TeXrivirrjs), the chief of the Hecatonnesi, a group of small islands lying between Lesbos and the coast of Asia. It contained a town of the same name (Scy- lax, p. 36, Hudson; Strab. xiii. p. 618; Steph. B. s. v.). Strabo says (I. c.) that some, in order to avoid the dirty allusion presented by this name, called it Poroselene {nopoff€i)vr]), which is the form employed by Ptolemy (v. 2. § 5), Pliny (v. 31. s. 38),'and Aelian (N. An. . 6). At a still later time the name was changed into Proselene, under which form the town appears as a bishop's see. (Hierocl. p. 686; Concil. Ckalced. p. 530.) JK coin of pordoselene. PORINAS. [Pheneus.] POKOSELE'NE. [Pordoselene.] PORPHY'REON {nop v : Eth. Uoppvpi- tivios, Tlop(pvp€wviTr)s), a city of Phoenicia, men- tioned by Scylax (p. 42, Hudson) between Berytus and Sidon, and marked in the Jerusalem Itinerary (where it is written Parphirion, p. 583, Wesseling) as 8 Roman miles N. of Berytus. Procopius calls it a village upon the coast. {Hist. Arc. c. 30, p. 164, Bonn.) It is mentioned by Polybius (v. 68), from whose narrative we learn that it was in the neighbourhood of Platanus. [Platanus.] Hence it seems to be correctly placed at the Khan Neby Tunas, where Pococke relates (vol. ii. p. 432) that he saw some broken pillars, a Corinthian capital, and ruins on each side of a mountain torrent. In the side of the mountain, at the back of the Khan, there are extensive excavated tombs, evidently once belonging to an ancient city. The Crusaders re- garded Haifa as the ancient Porphyreon ; but there is no authority that a city of this name ever stood in the bay of 'Akha. Justinian built a church of the Virgin at Porphyreon (Procop. de Aedif. V. 9, p. 328); and it was a place of sufficient im- portance to be made a bishopric under the metro- politan of Tyre. (Robinson, Biblical Researches, vol. iii. p. 432.) PO'RPHYRIS. [Nistrus.]