Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/899

 SALANIANA. shown in the annexed plan. The Grecian fleet was drawn up in the small bay in front of the town of Salaniis, and the Persian fleet opposite to them off the coast of Attica. The battle was witnessed by Xerxes from tlie Attic coast, who had erected for himself a lofty throne on one of the projecting declivities of Mt. Aegaleos. Colonel Leake has dis- cussed at length all the particulars of the battle, but Mr. Biakesley has controverted many of his views, following the authority of Aeschylus in pre- ference to that of Herodotus. In oppusilior. to Col. Leake and all preceding authorities, Jlr. Biakesley supposes, that though the hostile fleets occupied in the afternoon before the battle the position de- lineated in the plan annexed, yet that on the morn- ing of the battle the Greeks were drawn up across the southern entrance of the strait, between the Cape of St. Barbara and the Attic coast, and that the Persians were in the more open sea to the south. Into the discussion of this question our limits pre- vent us fiom entering ; and we must refer our readers for particulars to the essays of those writers quoted at the close of this article. There is, how- ever, one difficulty which must not be passed over in silence. Herodotus says (viii. 76) that on the night before the battle, the Persian ships stationed about Ceos and Cynosura moved uj), and beset the whole strait as far as JIunychia. The only known places of those names are the island of Ceos, distant more than 40 geographical miles from Salamis, and the promontory of Cynosura, immediately N. of the bay of Marathon, and distant more than 60 geogra- phical miles from Salamis. Both of those places, and more especially Cynosura, seem to be too distant to render the movement practicable in the time required. Accordingly many modern scholars apply the names Ceos and Cynosura to two promontories, the southennnost and south-easternmost of the island of Salamis, and they are so called in Kieport's maps. But there is no authority whatever for giving those names to two promontories in the island; and it is evident from the narrative, as Jlr. Grote has ob- served, that the names of Ceos and Cynosura must belong to some points in Attica, not in Salamis. Mr. Grote does not attempt to indicate the position of these places; but Mr. Biakesley maintains that Ceos and Cynosura are respectively the well-known island and cape, and that the real dilEculty is occa- sioned, not by their distance, but by the erroneous notion conceived by Herodotus of the operations of the Persian fleet. {heaVe, Demi of Attica, f. 166, seq., and Apjiendix 11. On the Battle of Salamis ; Biakesley, Excursus on Herodotus, viii. 76, vol. ii. p. 400, seq. ; Grote, JJist. of Greece, vol. v. p. 171, seq.) SALAPIA. 879 COIN OF SALAJIIS. SALANIA'NA, a town of the Calla'ci Bracarii in Gallaecia {[tin. Ant. p. 427.) Variously iden- tified with Cola Nova, Moymcuta, and Portela de Abade. [T. H. I).] SAL A'PI A (XaXairia : Eth. "ZaXaTHVos ; Salajjinus : Salpi), one of the most considerable cities of Apulia, situated on the coa.st of the Adriatic, but separated from the open sea by an intervening lagune, or salt- water lake, which was known in ancient times as the Salaiuna Palus (Lucan, v. 377 : Vib. Seq. p. 26), and is still called the Lago di Salpi. This lagune has now only an artificial outlet to the sea throusrh the hank of sand which separates them ; but it is pro- bable that in ancient times its communications were more free, as Salapia was certainly a considerable sea-port and in Strabo's time served as the port both of Arpi and Canusium (Strab. vi. p. 284). At an earlier period it was an independent city, and apparently a place of considerable importance. Tra- dition ascribed its foundation, as well as that of the neighbouring cities of Canusium and Arpi, to Dio- medes (Vitruv. i. 4. § 12); or, according to others, to a lihodian colony under Elpias (Id. ib.; Strab. xiv. p. 654).* There is no trace of its having received a Greek colony in historical times, though, in common with many other cities of the Daunian Apulians, it seems to have imbibed a large amount of Hellenic influence. This was probably derived from the Tarentines, and did not date from a very eaily period. The name of Salapia is not mentioned in history till the Second Punic War, in which it bears a con- siderable part. It was evidently one of the cities of Apulia which revolted to Hannibal after the battle of Cannae (Liv. xxii. 61); and a few years after we find it still in his possession. It was apparently a place of strength, on which account he collected there great magazines of corn, and established his winter quarters there in B.C. 214. (Id. xxiv. 20.) It remained in his hands after the fall of Arjji in the following year (Id. xxiv. 47); but in b. c. 210 it was betrayed into the povrer of Marcellus by Blasius, one of its citizens, who had been for some time the leader of the Roman party in the place, and the Numidian garrison was put to the sword. (Id. xxvi. 88; Appian, ^mji6. 45 — 47.) Its loss seems to have been a great blow to the power of Hannibal in this part of Italy ; and after the death of JMarcellus, n.c. 208, he made an attempt to recover possession of it by stratagem ; but the fraud was discovered, and the Carthaginian troops were repulsed with loss. (Liv. xxvii. 1, 28; Appian, Annib. 51.) Ko subsequent mention of it is found till the Social War, in the second year of which, when the tide of fortune was beginning to turn in favour of Rome, it was taken by the Roman praetor C. Cosconius, and burnt to the giound (Appian, B. C. i. 51). After this time it a[)pears to have fallen into a state of decay, and suft'ered severely from malaria in consequence of the exhalations of the neighbouring lagune. Vitruvius tells us, that at length the inhabitants ai)plied to M. Hostilius, who caused them to remove to a more healthy situation, about 4 miles from the former site, and nearer the sea, while he at the same time oiicned fresh communications between the luguneand the sea (Vitruv. i. 4. § 12). We have no clue to the time at which this char.ge took place, but it could hardly have been till after the town had fallen into a de- clining condition. Cicej-o, indeed, alludes to Salapia as in his day notorious for its pestilential climate (de Lcfj. A(jr. ii. 27); but this may be understood as relating to its territory rather than the actual town. Vitruvius is the only author who notices the change of site; but if his account can be depended it a Trojan origin ; though the passage, as usual, is somewhat obscure. (Lycophr. i4fca;. 1129.)
 * Lycophron, on the other hand, seems to assign