Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/679

 POTHEREUS. episcopal see in the early ages of Christianitj ; and the time of its decay or destruction seems to be un- known ; but the site is now wholly deserted. Con- siderable remains of the ancient city were still visi- ble in the time of Holstenius in the plain on the right bank of the Potenza, near its mouth ; and the name is still retained by an ancient church and abbey called Sta Maria a Potenza, about a mile from the Porto di Recanati. (Holsten. Not. ad Cluver. p. 134.) •2. (rioTej/Tia, Ptol.: £'<^. Potentinus: Potema), a city of the interior of Lucania, situated in the valley of the Casuentus or Basiento, not far from its source, and above 60 miles from the gulf of Tarentum. No mention of it occurs in history, and though it is noticed by Pliny, Ptolemy, and the Liber Coloniainim, among the municipal towns of Lucania, we have no indication of its superior im- portance. But from the numerous inscriptions dis- covered there, it is evident that it was, under the Roman empire, a flourishing municipal town, and must at that period have been one of the most con- siderable in Lucania, the towns of that province having for the most part fallen into great decay. The Itineraries give us two lines of road passing through Potentia, the one from Venusia southwards towards Grumentnm and Nerulum, the other from Salernum and the valley of the Silarus, which appears to iiave been continued in the direction of Tarentum. (Plin. iii. IL s. 15; Ptol. iii. 1. § 70; Lib. Col. p. 209; ftin. Ant. p. 104; Tab. Peut.; Mommsen /. P. N. pp. 23, 24.) The modern city of Potenza is the capital of the Basilicata, a province which comprises the greater part of the ancient Lucania: it does not occupy precisely the site of the ancient town, the remains of which are visible at a place called La Murata, in the valley below the modern city. (Romanelli, vol. i. p. 435.) [E. H. B.] POTHEREUS, a river of Crete mentioned by Vitruvius (i. 4), is identified by some with the Ca- tarrhaetes of Ptolemy. [Catarkhactes.] POT I DAE A. [Cassandreia.] P0TlDA'NIA(noTi5aj'Io: AY/j.noTi5awoT7js),a town in Aetolia Epictetus, on the borders of Locris, and one day's march from Oeneon. (Time. iii. 96 ; Liv. xxviii. 1 ; Steph. B. s. v.) PO'TNIAE (UoTi/iai: Eth. UoTvievsJem. XIot- rios), a village of Boeotia, on the road from Thebes to Plataea, distant 10 stadia from the former city. It was in ruins in the time of Pausanias, and con- tained a grove sacred to Demeter and Cora (Proser- pine). Potniae is celebrated in mythology as the residence of Glaucus, who was torn to pieces by his infuriated mares. (Xen. Hell. v. 4. § 51; Paus. ix. 8. §§ 1, 3; Steph. B. s. v.; Plin. xxv. 8. s. 53; Virg. Georff. iii. 268 ; Ov. Ibis, 557 ; Diet, of Biogr. art. Glaucus.) According to Strabo (p. 412) some authorities regarded Potniae as the Hy- pothebae of Homer {II. ii. 505). Gell places Potniae in the neighbourhood of the modem village of Tahi. (Gell, Itinerary, p. 110; corap. Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 323.) PKAASPA. [Phraata.] PKA'CTIUS (ripa/cTios), a small river in the north of Troas, flowing from Mount Ida, and dis- charging itself into the Hellespont a little below Percotc. (Horn. II. ii. 835; Strab. xiii. p. 590; Arrian, Anah. i. 12. § 6.) Some identify it with the modern Borgas, and others with the Muskahoi- Su. [L. S.] PKAENESTE (Jlpaivicnos, Strab. Appian ; PRAENESTE. 663 Upo/j'eo'Tf, Dion Cass. : Eth. Upaivfcrlvos, or XlpaiveaTi)v6s, Praenestinus: PaJestrina), one of the most ancient, as well as in early times one of the most powerful and important, of the ci- ties of Latium. It was situated on a projecting point or spur of the Apennines, directly oppo- site to the Alban Hills, and nearly due E. of Rome, from which it was distant 23 miles. (Strab. v. p. 238; Itin. Ant. p. 302; Westphal, Romische Kampagne, p. 106.) Various niytliical tales were current in ancient times as to its founder and origin. Of these, that adopted by Virgil as- cribed its foundation to Caeculus, a reputed son of Vulcan (Virg. Aen. vii. 678); and this, we learn from Solinus, was the tradition preserved by the Praenestines themselves (Solin. 2. § 9). Another tradition, obviously of. Greek origin, derived its name and foundation from Praenestus, a son of Latinus, the offspring of Ulysses and Circe (Steph. B. s. v.; Solin. /. c). Strabo also calls it a Greek city, and tells us that it was previously called TloKvaTi(pavoi (Strab. v. p. 238). Another form of the same name name is given by Pliny (iii. 5. s. 9), who tells us its original name was Stephane. And finally, as if to complete the series of contradictions, its name is found in the lists of the reputed colonies of Alba, the foundation of which is ascribed to Latinus Silvius (V^ict. Oriy. Gent. Rom. 17; Diod. vii. ap. Eitseb. Arm. p. 185). But there seems no doubt that the earlier traditions were those which assigned it a more ancient and independent origin. The first mention of its name in history is in the list of the cities of the Latin League, as given by Diony- sius, and there can be no doubt of its having fonned an important member of that confederacy. (Dionys. V. 61.) But as early as b. c. 499, according to Livy, it quitted the cause of the confederates and joined the Romans, an event which that historian places just before the battle of Regillus. (Liv. ii. 19.) Whether its separation from the rest of the Latins was permanent or not, we have no inform- ation; but on the next occasion when the name of Praeneste occurs, it was still in alliance with Rome, and suffered in consequence from the ravages of the Aequians and Volscians, B. c. 462 (Liv. iii. 8). The capture of Rome by the Gauls seems, however, to have introduced a change in the relations of the two cities. Shortly after that event (b. c. 383) the Praenestines are mentioned as making hostile in- cursions into the territories of the Gabians and, Labicans : the Romans at first treated this breach of faith with neglect, apparently from unwillingness to provoke so powerful an enemy; but the nest year, the Praenestines having sent an army to the support of the revolted colonists of Velitrae, war was for- mally declared against them. The Praenestines now joined their former enemies the Volscians, and, in conjunction with them, took by storm the Roman colony of Satricum. (Liv. vi. 21, 22.) The next year the Volscians were defeated in a great battle by Camillus, but no mention is made of the Prae- nestines as taking jtai t in it. The following .season, however (b. c. 380), they levied a large army, and taking advantage of the domestic dissensions at Rome, which impeded the levying of troops, they advanced to the very gates of the city. From thence they withdrew to the banks of the Allia, where they were attacked an<l dtfeated by T. (^uintius Cincin- natus, who had been named in all haste dictator. So complete was their rout that they not only fled in confusion to the very gates of Praeneste, but u u 4