Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/894

 874 SAGUNTIA. iiionntains. After passing Aiifiilena it turns abruptly to the NE., and pursues this course till it reaches the sea. In the lower part of its course it enters the territory of the Frentani, which it traverses in its whole breadth, flowing into the sea between His- tonium and Ortona. Strabo indeed represents it as forining the boundary between the Frentani and the Peligni, but this is certainly a mistake, as the Pe- ligni did not in fact descend to the sea-coast at all, and Ortona, one of the chief towns of the Frentani, was situated to the N. of the Sagrus. (Strab. v. p. 242; Ptol. iii. 1. § 19; where the name is er- roneously written 'S,d|^os.) The upper valley of the Sagrus, with its adjoining mountains, was the teixi- torv of the Sanniite tribe of the Caraceni. (Ptol. iii."l. § 66.) [E. H. B.] SAGU'NTIA. 1. C^ayowTla, Ptol. ii. 4. § 13), a town in the SW. part of Hispania Baetica. (Liv. xxsiv. 12; Plin. iii. 1. .s. 3.) Now Xigonza or Gigonza. NW. from Jfedina Sidonia, where there are many ruins. (Morales, Anti<j. p. 87 ; Florez, £sp. Sfigr. x. p. 47.) 2. A town of the Arevaci, in Hispania Tarra- conensis, SW. from Bilbilis. It was in the juris- diction of Clunia, on the road from Emerita to Caesaraugusta, and was the scene of a battle be- tween Sertorius and Metellus. (Plut. Sert. 21 ; App. B. C. i. 110.) The name is written Segontia in the Itin. Ant. pp. 436 and 438, and in the Geog. Eav. iv. 43 ; t)ut must not be confounded with that of a town of the Celtiberi. Now Siguenza on the Henarez. (Florez, Esp. Sagr. viii. p. 18 ; Jlorales, Antig. p. 87.) [T. H. D.] SAGUNTUII {-Xayovvrov, Ptol. ii. 6. § 63), also called SAGUNTUS (Jlela, ii. 6 ; S.iyovvTos, Steph. B. s. I'.), a town of the Edetani or Sedetani in Hispania Tarraconensis, seated on an eminence on tlie banks of the river Pallantias, between Sucro and Tarraco, and not far from the sea. Strabo (iii. p. 159) erroneously places it near the mouth of the Iberus, though it lies near 100 miles to the SW. of it. The same author states that it was founded by Greeks from Zaeynthus ; and we find that St^phanus calls it ZaicavQa and 7.aKvvQos. Livy adds that the founders were mixed with Eutuli from Ardea (Liv. xxi. 7) ; whence we sometimes find the city called Ausonia Saguntus. (Sil. Ital. i. 332.) Another tradition ascribed its foundation to Hercules. (lb. 263. 505.) Saguntum lay in a very fertile district (Polyb. svii. 2), and attained to great wealth by means of its commerce. It was the immediate cause of the Second Punic War, from its being besieged by Hannibal when it was in the alliance of the Romans. The siege is me-
 * norable in history. The town was taken, after

a desperate resistance, in b. c 218, and all the adult males put to the sword ; but how long the siege lasted is uncertain. (Liv. xxi. 14, 15 ; Cf. Sil. Ital. i. 271, seq.) Eight years afterwards Saguntum was recovered by the Romans. The Carthaginians had partly destroyed it, and had used it as a place for the custody of their hostages. (Polyb. iii. 98 ; Liv. xxiv. 42.) The city was re- stored by the Eomans and made a Roman colony. (Liv. xxviii. 39; Plin. iii. 3. s. 4.) Saguntum was famous for its manufacture of earthenware cups (calices Saguntini) (Plin. xx.xv. 12. s. 46 ; JIart. iv. 46, xiv. 108), and the figs grown in the neigh- bourhood were considered very fine. (Plin. xv. 18. s. 19.) Its site is now occupied by the town of Murciedro,yi da derives its name from the ancient SAIS. fortifications (muri veteres). But little now remains of the ruins, the materials having been unsparingly used by the inhabitants for the purpose of building. " The great temple of Diana stood where the convent of La Trinidad now does. Here are let in some six Roman inscriptions relating to the families of Sergia and others. At the back is a water-course, with portions of the walls of the Circus Maximus. In the suburb San Salvador, a mosaic pavement of Bacchus was discovered in 1745, which soon after- wards was let go to ruin, like that of Italica. The famous theatre is placed on the slope above the town, to which the orchestra is turned ; it was much destroyed by Suchet, who used the stones to strengthen the castle, whose long lines of wall and tower rise grandly above; the general form of the theatre is, however, easily to be made out. . . . The local arrangements are such as are common to Roman theatres, and resemble those of JJerida. They have been measured and described by Dean Marti; Ponz, iv. 232, in the Esp. Sagr. viii. 151." (Ford's Handbook for Spain, p. 206.) For the coins of Saguntum see Florez, Med. ii. p. 560; ^lionnet, i. p. 49, Suppt. i. p. 98. The accompany- ing coin of Saguntum contains on the obverse the head of Tiberius, and on the reverse the prow of a ship. [T. H. D.] COIN OF SAGUSTU.M. SAGUTE SINUS (Polyb. ap. Plin. v. 1), a gulf on the W. coast of ilauretania, S. of tlie river Lixus, which must be identified with the Empoiucus Sinus. The Phoenician word " Sacharut" signifies " Empnria," and by an elision not uncommon among the Africans assumed the form under which it ap- pears in Polybius. (Jlovers, Die Phoniz. vol. ii. p. 541.) [E. B. J.] SAGY'LIUM C^ayvXiov), a castle situated on a steep rock in the interior of Pontus, which was one of the strongholds of the Pontian kings. (Sti-ab. xii. pp. 560,'561.) [L. S.] SAIS (2ais, Herod, ii. 28, 59, 152, 169 ; Strab. Xvii. p. 8D2; Steph. B. s. v.; Mela. i. 9. § 9; Plin. V. 10. s. 11: Etk. 2ajTT7S, fern. SaTris), the capital of the Saitie Nome in the Delta, and occasionally of Lower Aegypt also, stood, in lat. 31° 4' N., on the right b.ink of the Canopic arm of the Nile. The site of the ancient city is determined not only by the appellation of the modern town of Sa-el-Hadjar, which occupies a portion of its area, but also by mounds of ruin corresponding in extent to the im- portance of Sais at least under the later Pharaohs. The city was artificially raised high above the level of the Delta to be out of the reach of the inun- dations of the Nile, and served as a landmark to all who ascended the arms of the river from the Mediterranean to ^Memphis. Its ruins have been very imperfectly explored, yet traces have been found of the lake on wh ch the mysteries of Isis were per- formed, as well as of the temple of Neith (Athenfe) and the necropolis of the Saite kings. The wall of