Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/682

 666 PRAENETUS. tending to prove the continued importance of Prae- Deste throughout the period of the Roman Empire. (Nibby, vol. ii. pp. 513 — 515; Fojjgini, I.e. pp. v. — viii.) Other inscriptions mention the existence of a theatre and an amphitheatre, a portico and curia, and a spoliarium ; but no remains of any of these edifices can be traced. (Gruter, Inscr. p. 132; Orelli, Inscr. 2532; Borm.ann, note 434.) The celebrated grammarian Verrius Flaccns, al- ready mentioned, was probably a native of Prae- neste, as was also the well-known author Aelianus, who, though he wrote in Greek, was a Roman citi- zen by birth. (Suid. s. v. AiMavos). The family of the Anicii also, so illustrious under the Empire, seems to have derived its origin from Praeneste, as a Q. Anicius is mentioned by Pliny as a magistrate of that city as early as b. C. 304. (Plin. ssxiii. 1. s. 6.) It is probable also that in Livy (xxiii. 19) •we should read M. Anicius for Manicius. It is re- markable that the Praenestines appear to have had certain dialectic peculiarities which distinguished them from the other Latins ; these are more than once alluded to by Plautus, as well as by later grammarians. (Plant. Trinum. iii. 1. 8, True. iii. 2. 23; Quintil. Inst. i. 5. § 56 ; Fest. s. v. Nephren- dis, Id. s. V. To7igere.) The territory of Praeneste was noted for the ex- cellence of its nuts, which are noticed by Cato. (i2. R. 8, 143 ; Plin. xvii. 13. s. 21 ; Naevius, ap. Macroh. Sat. iii. 18). Hence the Praenestines themselves seem to have been nicknamed Nuculae; though another explanation of the term is given by Festus, who derives it from the walnuts (nuces) with which the Praenestine garrison of Casilinum is said to have been fed. (Cic. de Or. ii. 62; Fest. s.v. Nuculae.) Pliny also mentions the roses of Prae- neste as among the moat celebrated in Italy; and its wine is noticed by Athenaeus, though it was ap- parently not one of the choicest kinds. (Plin. xxi. 4. s. 10; Athen. i. p. 26, f.) It is evident from the narrative of Livy (vi. 29) that Praeneste in the days of its independence, like Tibur, had a considerable territory, with at least eight smaller towns as its dependencies; but the names of none of these are preseiTed to us, and we are wholly unable to fix the limits of its ter- ritory. The name of Via Praenestina was given to the road which, proceeding from Rome through Gabii direct to Praeneste, from thence rejoined the Via Latina at the station near Anagnia. It will be considered in detail in the article Vlv Pr^venes- TINA. [E. H. B.] PEAE'NETUS (npaiVeros), a town on the coast of Bithynia, on the north side of Mount Argantho- nius, and at the southern entrance of the Sinus Astacenus. It was situated 28 Roman miles to the north-west of Nicaea; and Stephanus B., who calls it UpdveKTOS, states that it was founded by the Phoenicians. If this be true, it would be a very ancient place, which can scarcely be conceived, as it is mentioned only by very late writers. (Pallad. Vil. Chrys. p. 75; Socrat. vi. 16; Hierocl. p. 691, where it is called Prinotus; Tab. Feutmff., v:here it is written Pronetios.) According to Cedrenus (p. 457), it was destroyed by an earthquake. Its site seems to answer to that of Debrende. [L. S.] PRAESI'DIUJI, the name of several fortified places established by the Romans. 1 . In Lusitania, on the Douro. {It'm. Ant. p. 428.) PRAESUS. 2. In Baetica, on the road from the mouth of the Anas to Emerita {lb. 431); thought by some to be S. Lucar de Guadiana. 3. In Gallaecia, not far from the Douro. {lb. 422.) 4. In Britannia Romana, in the territoiy of the Cornavii {JVot. Imp.), supposed to be Waneick. (Camden, p. 602.) [T. H. D.] PRAESI'DIUM, a military post on the Greater Syrtb, between Tagulae or Tugulae {A'asr-el-Ateck) and Ad Tun-em. {Petit. Tab.) The result of Barth's {Wanderungen, pp. 372 — 377) laborious researches upon the ancient topography of the Great Syrtis, is to place this station at Jelmdia, where there are remains of antiquity. [E. B. J.] PRAESIDIUM. [Tarichiae.1 PRAESI'DIUM POMPEII. [Pompeii Prae- sroiusr.] PRAESIL [Prasiaca.] PRAESTI (Curt. ix. 8. § 11), a people of the Panjilb, who were conquered by Alexander the Great. Their king is stated by Cnrtius to have been named Oxycanus. He would seem to have been the same ruler who is called by Strabo Por- ticauus (xv. p. 701). His name, however, occurs in An-ian. {Anab. vi. 16.) As Curtius calls the Praesti a purely Indian nation, it is not unlikely, from the resemblance of the names, that they formed the western portion of the great empire of the Prasii.. [Prasiaca.] [V.] PRAESUS, or PRASUS (Upa'taos; in the MSS. of Strabo Upaaos, but in inscriptions Xlpaicros, Bockh, Inscr. vol. ii. p. 1102: Eih. npoiVioy, more rarely Upaiaievs, Steph. B. s. v.), a town in Crete, be- longing to the Eteocretes, and containing the temple of the Dictaean Zeus, for Mt. Dicte was in the ter- ritory of Praesus. (Strab. x. pp. 475, 478.) There is a difficulty in the passage of Strabo, describing the position of this town. He first says (p. 478) that Praesus bordered upon the territory of Leben, and was distant 70 stadia from the sea, and 180 from Gortyn ; and he next speaks of Praesus as lying between the promontories Samonium and Cherso- nesus, at the distance of 60 stadia from the sea. It is evident that these are two different places, as a town, whose territory was contiguous to that of Leben, must have been situated in the southern part of the island ; while the other town, between the promontories of Samonium and Chersonesus, must have been at the eastern end. The latter is the town of the Eteocretes, possessing the temple of the Dictaean Zeus, and the Praesus usually known in histoiy : the former is supposed by Mr. Pashley {Crete, vol. i. p. 289, seq.) to be a false reading for Priansus, a town mentioned in coins and inscriptions, which he accordingly places on the southern coast between Bienna and Leben. In this he is followed by Kiepert. But Bockh thinks {Inscr. vol. ii. p. 405) that Updvaos, or Uplavffos was the primitive form of the name, from which Vlpaicros, or XlpiaKTos (a form in Steph. B. s. v.), and subsequently npaaos, were derived, just as in the Aeolic dialect ■rrdvffa became iraiaa, and in the Attic dialect nacra. Kramer {ad Strab. I. c.) adopts the opinion of Bcickh. Upon the whole we must leave uncertain what town was intended by Strabo in the former of the above- mentioned passages. The tenitory of Praesus extended across the island to either sea. (Scyl.ix, p. 18, Huds.) It is said to have been the only place in Crete, with the exception of Pohchna, that did not take part in the